Crystal of the Week -- Diopside

Known as the Stone of Service, Diopside will help to open your heart chakra to love, forgiveness and trust.   This stone helps you to increase your sense of humility and compassion allowing you to be of true service to others.  If you've always wondered what your soul purpose is, Diopside will gently help you remember, recover and recall your true gifts.

If you're experiencing an emotional blockage and inability to let go, green Diopside is the stone for you.  It releases our mental blocks and allows us to truly grieve and surrender our pain.  For this reason, it's sometimes called the Crying Stone.

Many healers recommend Diopside for aspiring writers as it helps to focus writing goals and encourages writers to complete the project with success.

It's also considered a stone of the intellect and will help in academic pursuits.  Judy Hall recommends it for the study of mathematics.  Cassandra Eason recommends it for people dealing with eating disorders and obsessive compulsive behaviors.  If you know an elderly person who's suffering from alzheimer's or dementia, place a diopside on their bedside table.  Diopside is also good for children dealing with dyslexia.

Rainbow Meditation

I've received some emails requesting that I post the rainbow meditation I did on Sunday's show, so here it is.  Hope you enjoy!  Meditating on the colors of the rainbow will help to balance and cleanse your chakras while raising your vibrations.

Imagine that you’re walking down a lovely meadow.  In front of you is the most glorious rainbow.  See this rainbow in front of you.  Reach out and touch it.  Now, take a deep breath and begin to walk through the rainbow. First you walk through the red color. Breathe this color in and feel the fire of life and creation coursing through you filling you with energy.  

As you walk toward the orange – the color of a blazing sunset – you feel filled with creativity and sensuality.  Your body, mind and soul are at one.

Walking into the yellow light, you feel joyful, courageous and powerful.  Your own personal sun radiates out from your center.   You feel grounded, centered, connected.  The energy from the earth, the sun, the rainbow is filling you with love, light and life force. 

As you walk into the emerald green color, your body is filled with love.  You feel a force of love growing and healing, awakening inside of you.  

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, you walk toward the sky blue ray of the rainbow.  You’re reminded of the vastness of the sky and the ocean.  You feel an infinite sense of peace and tranquility as the sky blue color soars through your body purifying your thoughts and words.  

As you walk into the indigo light, your third eye awakens and you release fully into the colors of the rainbow allowing yourself to trust and see truth for the first time.  

Finally, you move into the purple light – a perfect blend of the earth and sky – and you feel the union of the cosmos soaring through your body.  You feel at one with the world, with your soul and your higher self.  The gate to enlightenment is now opened for you.  

Crystal of the Week -- Jade

Commonly known as the Stone of Luck, Jade is known and prized worldwide for having the ability to increase good fortune.  It can teach courage, humility, wisdom and justice.  Jade enables us to discover our karmic lessons and aids in past life recall. It's been known to increase our ability to astral travel. A calming stone, Jade helps us to discover who we really are. It's a very protective stone, especially for children.  Jade can help with fertility issues and pregnancy fears. Jade is known as the Sacred Stone of China. They believed powdered Jade could cure many ailments.  Bridegrooms would present their brides with jade butterflies as a symbol of love.  The couple would then drink from a jade cup to ensure fidelity and a happy marriage.  The Chinese would put a jade stone in the mouth of a deceased person to ensure a good afterlife.

Physically, Jade helps the kidney, liver and spleen. Doctors in the 1800s prescribed tying Jade around the arm to reduce kidney stones.

Green Jade has the ability to attract money.  It will also help to heal the heart center. White and cream Jade soothes the nervous system.  Mauve, Lilac and Lavender Jade sooth the nervous system.  Yellow Jade attracts friends to us and brings joy and happiness.

There are two types of stones that are referred to as Jade.  One is Jadeite and the other is Nephrite.  Be careful when purchasing Jade as imitations are often sold.

Protect Your Energy with Sprays and Oils

I received an email this week that asked this:

"Samantha, I'm intrigued by your Crystal Clear spray.  Does it really work?"

Hmm, how did she expect me to answer that?  "Shucks, you got me.  Nope, it doesn't work.  I just sell bottles filled with water."

As a teacher, I'm trained to say, "There's no such thing as a dumb question."   :)

Do sprays really work?  Short answer - yes.  If you don't believe me, don't buy mine.  Make your own.

All you need is blessed or charge water, clear alcohol like vodka, and oils of your choosing.

I get my blessed water from the font at my church.  But if you're not comfortable with that, you can pour distilled water into a glass bowl and charge it in the sun for two - three hours.  Or you can use ocean water.  I live near the beach, so often I'll bring an empty water jug to the beach with me and it fill it up.

You want to fill a spray bottle about 3/4 full with the water.  Top off with the vodka; this prevents the water from getting that murky smell and allows you to use your spray bottle for quite some time.

Next, you want to choose your oils.  Here's a quick run down of what some do:

For general space clearing and to cleanse your auric field:  sage, lavender, frankincense and myrrh.

To enhance romance and relaxation: lavender, jasmine, rose, ylang ylang, and sandalwood

To add energy and joy to your space: lemon.  This stimulating scent will boost your immune system and works well when blended with other oils.

To stimulate the mind, body and spirit: rosemary.  Rosemary for remembrance is a great scent to use when you're feeling worn down and depleted.  It acts as an antiseptic so spray it when someone in your home isn't feeling well too.

To cheer you up:  basil, bergamot, clary sage and thyme

To balance emotions: bergamot, clary sage

For a good night's sleep: basil, clary sage, thyme, lavender, chamomile

There are all sorts of specific recipes out there for making sprays.  Add nine drops of this oil and three drops of that oil, but you might want to let your intuition guide you and use what smells best and feels best for you.  For example, when I make my Crystal Clear sprays, the different types of sage are a bit overpowering, so I'll add more lavender and myrrh.

I also add crystals to my sprays.  Carnelian is a great stone to add to your spray bottle because one of its main jobs is to cleanse the area its in.  So it will work hard to keep your spray bottle and the area it's spraying cleansed and cleared.  Clear quartz is also a great stone to add to your spray bottle because it's an energizer.  Amethyst, the stone of spirituality, will work well too.  Jasper is a good stone to add for protection.

I also add dried sage and sweetgrass to my sprays.

What can you use sprays for?  You can use them to cleanse the energy in your home, car and office.  You can use them to energetically cleanse your crystals and jewelry.
You can put a Monster Spray label on your bottle and use them to help your children feel safe at night.
You can use sprays to cleanse your bedroom to ensure a good night's rest.

I use my Crystal Clear Spray to quickly cleanse my crystals, my hands, my cards and my office between clients.  I spray it in my home every day to cleanse the energy there and I spritz the crystals in my home when I don't have time for a thorough cleanse.

Experiment, spray and enjoy!

Dealing With the Scary Side of Intuition

I hosted the Psychic Teachers show alone again on Sunday.  I am not the best podcast host when I'm alone, so I know I missed some key points I was trying to make.  I also have no ability to talk and keep up with the chat room, so I apologize for the negative people who entered the chat room at the end of the show.  How ironic that the first time we've had negative people enter the chat room is the time we're discussing negative entities?  Coincidence?

Okay, so here's my stance on the dark side:

They exist.  In my opinion, they're real.  In order for there to be light, there must be darkness.  As above, so below. Yin Yang.  Black White.  Alpha Omega.  It's a balance.

Here's the way I view this.  I think there's a fight, a literal war going on between the dark and the light.  I also believe that most people are completely oblivious to this.  They go to work, take care of their families, sit at home and watch TV.  I call these people the grays.  They're neither good nor bad.  They just are.  They're fairly self consumed with their own life and problems.  "A famine in Africa?  Gee, that's too bad.  Too bad I can't do anything about it." Those are the grays.

The dark side loves the grays.  They're easy to manipulate when needed.

The dark side hates the lightworkers.   You all reading this are lightworkers.  You're the ones who are searching and reaching for more and learning that you have a purpose and that your purpose involves service and gratitude and living a life of meaning.   They can't stand this and will do whatever they can to pull you back into the land of grays.  How do they do this?

Lots of ways.

Let's say, for example, that you're trying to get to church each week.  They'll make that a problem for you.  No one in your family will want to go.  When you get there, the pastor/priest will ask for money.  Babies will cry the entire time, and you'll think, "Why am I here and not at home with my feet up reading the paper?"

Let's say you decide to take an intuitive development or meditation class to expand your awareness.  If it costs money, the dark side might make something occur in your life to make that monetary expense too difficult for you.  Or your friends and family might make fun of you for your new interests.

If you start to believe that you have a higher purpose other than working and paying bills, the dark side loves to use doubt to pull you down.  You'll have nasty thoughts filled with fear and doubt plague you.  "Who are you to think you can pull this off?  You don't have the talent/gift/ability/time/money/intelligence (you get the point) to do this.  What are you thinking?"

If they fail at all this and you continue on your path of lightness, then they'll begin to stress you out.  You might start losing things right before you're leaving the house for your meditation class.  You might find that you constantly run late for these appointments and classes.  You might get plagued with annoying colds and flus and start to think that you're overworked and overstressed.  Maybe it's time to cut back on this spiritual development and just resume my old life, you might think.

If this next step fails, then they'll just try to out and out scare you.  You might have nightmares, see shadows dart by in your home or be awoken in the middle of the night with the sure feeling that someone is in the room.

I've had all of these things happen to me.  And I did return to the land of the grays.  Again and again and again. What can I say?  I am a very fearful person.  Or was.

I respect the dark side and I think you should too.  It's nothing to kid around with.  But I try really hard not to fear the dark, for I believe so strongly in the power of the light and my faith.  I know my people and my angels will never let me down.

When I was a little girl, I was woken up almost nightly.  There was always someone or something in my room.  My family jokes that I'm the youngest because my parents were never allowed to sleep alone in their bedroom to conceive another child.  I was constantly running to their room in fear.

When I was finally flirting again with the idea of opening up my intuition in my early 30's, I had this amazingly real dream that I now know was not a dream.  A man walked into my bedroom.  He was older, about 65, very tall and thin and had that rugged look that comes from living life hard and truly.  He was wearing a red baseball cap, had bright blue eyes, a bit of steel gray stubble and was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.  His smile lit up my room.  I remember sitting up and smiling back and he said, "See? It's not scary when we visit you in your dreams, is it?  We've been trying to get you to talk to us for years and finally one of them suggested we try this way."  He motioned behind him and I looked to see dozens of people standing in my bedroom.  "So, can you talk to us now?"

I nodded and he said, "Good.  Can we move this to your kitchen? It's a bit crowded in here."

So I followed them into my kitchen.  And do you know what they wanted?  They each wanted me to hold their hand so I could relive with them the last ten minutes of their lives.  I have no idea to this day why this was necessary.  But that's what I did.  I reached for their hand one at a time and saw their deaths. I saw one man have a heart attack on his tractor overlooking his land.  I saw a nurse driving to work feeling cranky about the long day ahead of her when another car slammed into to her.  I saw an old gentleman just slip away into death while his family stood by and watched.  He was lying in a hospital bed in the middle of his living room.  And Red?  He was shot down on an interstate highway by several police after escaping from jail.  Even though that's a really bad thing and a horrible death, I still really like Red.

Anyway, after that, spirits visited me most nights.  And that's all they wanted -- to make me relive their last moments on earth.

But in between that amazing year, I had some really scary experiences. I had terrible, terrible nightmares.

But then the beautiful things would happen.  I'd have dreams where angels visited me and told me to use the light of God's love to literally throw at these negative people.  They showed me how this light -- which we all carry in our hearts -- can truly transform people, even the evil ones.  It just takes time and lots of love.  And I was able to see how my messages brought comfort to people.  Several people returned to their faith that year after hearing validations from their loved ones in heaven.  There was one woman who emailed me for her mom.  "My brother died last year, and I don't know if she's ready to talk with you.  Can you talk to me first so I can see what my brother has to say?"  Her brother had accidentally killed himself.  His spirit was so funny, so giving and so, well, alive.  Really, I felt as though he were more alive than I'd ever been.  His sister was relieved to hear he was doing well and scheduled a time to talk to his mom.  I remember the day of her reading, I felt compelled to go to a store called Khols.  I am not a fan of shopping, I don't particularly like Khols, and yet I couldn't get it off my mind.  I also don't like to do other things when I have readings scheduled.  I don't want to get distracted.  But I am telling you I had to go to Khols.  When I walked in, the first thing I saw was a display of gem stone heart shaped necklaces.  The pink rose quartz heart fairly lit up in front of me. "Buy that for my mom."  I turned around.  Who had said that?  Then I put it together and it made sense.  The son wanted me to buy this for his mother, so I did.  The mother was so relieved to hear from her son and happy to receive a gift from him.  That's the first and only time that's happened to me, that a spirit made me shop for him, but it validated to me that there was so much good in opening up to our intuition if we can trust in the light.

So, back to the dark side.  If you are trying to reach for something more than yourself, something beyond your day-to-day "rinse and repeat" life, DON'T let the dark side distract you or scare you.

Here are some things you can do:

1) Call on Christ and Archangel Michael to protect you and clear away the negativity

2) Wear a crystal or symbol of your faith every day.

3) Imagine white light around yourself twice a day -- once upon waking and once upon falling asleep

4) Pray every day

5) Read books on psychic protection.  Judy Hall and Ted Andrews have written great books on this subject.

6) Keep walking your path.  Don't get distracted.  Keep your eyes on the light.

And, just as importantly, trust your instincts.  So many have said that the greatest feat of the dark side hasn't been the world wars or cancer or AIDS but rather the belief that the dark doesn't exist.

If you still think I'm crazy, consider what I've come across this month alone:

Four clients have told me they think something negative is in their home.  I've received three emails asking me how to get rid of the creepy energy hanging around their house.  During a reading last month, I saw something negative attached to a client.  I asked her what was going on in her life when she was five.  She said, "Oh that's when we moved to the haunted house."  I told her what I was sensing and that I didn't think that thing had left her all these years later.  She became emotional and said she had sensed that too but couldn't really believe it.  This month, I sensed something negative around a client that was causing all sorts of financial troubles.  Once, after telling a client about something negative I sensed, I hung up the phone from the reading and was slapped by something.  It terrified me.  Like I said, I scare easily.  Another time, I was asked to help clear a home of something negative.  When I came home, I was still scared.  Everyone in my family started fighting.  Literally.  My husband said something snarky to me, my girls started fighting and my dog went to the bathroom on the living room floor.  Right there in front of us.  I knew then that something had followed me home.

So I quickly put the kids to bed, walked into my bedroom and prayed for Jesus Christ and Archangel Michael to come and help.  I said, "I command and demand that you get rid of whatever has followed me home."  Thirty seconds passed, and I heard a huge crash in my kitchen.  I ran into the kitchen and saw that the five shelves of cookbooks above my kitchen desk had fallen and the spice rack on the opposite wall had fallen to the floor as well.  I have lived in this house for 14 years and neither of those things have ever fallen before or since.  I knew a fight of some sort had occurred in my kitchen and I knew who won.  You could feel the peace and joy in their air.

The light will always win.  It just will.

I read once that the ancient Jewish teaching on Lucifer was that he was a teacher.  His name meant "adversary."  He was sent here to tempt us as a way of strengthening our faith.  If you read the Book of Job, you'll see how this works.  I like to think that maybe that's true, that maybe all we're here to learn is how to overcome fear so we can love.  C. S Lewis always said that he treasured and valued his suffering because without it he wouldn't know joy or happiness.  Without the dark, we can't recognize the light.

For more reading on this subject, check out these books:

Return From Tomorrow by Dr. George Ritchie
Hostage to the Devil by Father Malachi Martin
Shadows of the Dark by John Zaffis
The Uninvited by Steven LaChance
Psychic Protection by Ted Andrews
The Art of Psychic Protection by Judy Hall
When Ghosts Speak by Mary Ann Winkowski
Spirit Releasement Therapy by William Baldwin
Spirit Release by Sue Allen

Crystal of the Week -- Amethyst

Known as the "sobriety" stone, amethyst can help us with increasing our spirituality in a calm, grounding energy.  Derived from the Greek word "amethystos," meaning not drunken, amethyst was thought to ward off intoxication.  Ancient Greeks and Romans would drink wine out of amethyst goblets believing they could drink without experiencing the inebriating effects of the alcohol.

In the Egyptian Book of the Dead are instructions for placing a heart shaped amethyst on the body of the deceased.

Because of its calming, almost sedative quality, amethyst can aid with any addictive or compulsive behavior.

Due to its lovely purple color, amethyst is a crown chakra stone and can assist the wearer with increasing psychic ability and spiritual awareness. It is said to assist our connection with our angels and guides while protecting us from negative influences.  Amethyst helps break up old emotional blocks to assist your psychic awakening. Lore holds that carrying a piece of amethyst will protect you from psychic attack and any negative influence caused by ghosts and negative earthbounds.

Physically, amethyst can help heal headaches, insomnia.  It combats nightmares and is known to promote lucid dreaming.  It makes a great addition to dream pillows.

Amethyst is such a highly spiritual stone that it can help to raise your vibrations.

It's also known to help people dealing with legal issues, and for centuries has been believed to help ward off attacks from thieves and robbers.

People who constantly wear an amethyst necklace are said to appear more beautiful, charming and successful.

An amethyst cluster is so powerful that it can help heal, charge and cleanse other crystals.

You should keep a small amethyst with your tarot or angel cards to keep them operating at the highest level.

Catholics call the Amethyst the "Bishop's Stone."  It's the chosen stone for Bishops to wear because the Amethyst represents wisdom, purity of thought, and humility. Amethyst is also featured in the crown jewels of England and has been worn by every Pope since the 16th century.

Charge amethyst clusters in the moonlight weekly and then place throughout your home to increase your home's vibration and instill a sense of calm within everyone living there.

Finding the "om" in your Home

So many people that I meet through my work are stressed out, frazzled and exhausted.  I think I'm one of them too.  Time is flying by us -- can you feel everything speeding up?  And more and more demands are being placed on us.  Last night I saw some guy on TV talk about how women in particular need to make time for themselves because we're so busy doing everything for our families that heart disease and cancer scares are on the rise for women.  He talked about how women have to create a scared space in their home and should meditate or pray for an hour a day.

An hour. Really?

If you add up all the things we're supposed to do in a day -- work, clean, cook, meditate, pray, exercise, socialize and organize for the next day's round of events --well, then, we're out of time.

This blog post is mainly aimed at women and men like me who are trying so hard to juggle career, family and personal needs.  This man's advice got me thinking about how hard it is to really find time in the day to stop and meditate for 10 minutes, never mind an HOUR.

I do meditate every day, but rarely do I meditate for more than 10 or 15 minutes.  I pray every morning and evening for about five minutes each.  So that's 20 - 30 minutes I devote every day for my spiritual enlightenment.

Not impressive, especially for an intuitive.

BUT, ponder these facts:

Jesus never had a family.  Buddha abandoned his family (including his new born child) to find enlightenment.  Mohammad may have had over a dozen wives, but he still left them for weeks at a time several times a year to meditate in a cave.  The founder of the Hare Krishna movement, Swami Prabhupada, "retired" from marriage when he came to the states in 1966 to spread his movement.  I love that he referred to it as retiring from marriage and not divorce or abandonment.  Abraham didn't become a dad until he was very, very old and so he had plenty of time to seek enlightenment before almost sacrificing his first son.  Every major female spiritual leader from Saint Clare of Assisi, Joan of Arc and St. Therese of Avila to Dorothy Day, Dharma Master Cheng Yen, and  Mother Theresa did not have to deal with raising a family.

So, please don't be hard on yourself if you're having a hard time balancing it all and finding time to meditate, pray and ponder the meaning of life.

In order to be spiritually mindful, we do not need to abandon our families. Nor do we have to feel as though enlightenment can wait until we've raised our family.  To me, the recipe for enlightenment really can be found in raising a family.  Don't believe me?  Consider these thoughts:

In order to reach a state of enlightenment, you must have faith.  What greater evidence of faith can we find in our own lives than through the act of having a child?  That shows faith in the continuation of the world, faith in our ability to parent and raise another human being, and faith in a higher power that it can even happen at all.

Enlightenment also requires patience.  Watching your child go through the terrible twos will teach the hardest, most impatient person how to surrender.  Potty training your child, encouraging them to eat vegetables and painfully helping them sound out words as they learn to read all equals patience.

In order to feel enlightened, we must learn how to be still.  How many of you have practiced the power of stillness when you had to tiptoe in their room and steal a tooth from under their pillow?  Or have to listen to them tell you -- again -- the moment by moment reenactment of their favorite movie.

Enlightenment requires that we learn to be both teacher and student.  With our families, we're constantly teaching them the essentials of life -- how to get along with others, how to have good study habits, how to pray and be an active member of their faith community, how to give back to others and empathize -- but we're also our children's students constantly learning from their pearls of wisdom.  My youngest just taught me how to hop on one foot while balancing on a curb going around our cul-de-sac.  But seriously, our children are our greatest teachers as they reveal to us our greatest strengths and weaknesses.

The enlightened mind also must have courage which is really what parenting is all about.  One must have the courage to discipline, to guide, and to let go when the child is ready.

So to all you frazzled parents out there, don't feel bad about yourself if you're trying to find time to include more spirituality in your life because, trust me, it's already there.

The twenty or so years you'll spend raising your children to adulthood will expand your heart, enrich your soul and provide the perfect opportunity for true enlightenment.

Crystal of the Week -- Garnet

Derived from the latin word for seed "granatus" garnets can help plant a seed of desire in us that will enable us to grow in passion, health and confidence. This stone is best for increasing self-confidence in our relationships and career.  Garnet has been worn for thousands and thousands of years.  It's said that Noah carried a lantern made from garnet to direct his ark safely through the flooded waters.  Garnet is mentioned as one of the 12 gemstones in the breastplate of Aaron. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans wore garnet jewelry, and knights wore garnet as a protection against death and bad luck.

When given as a gift, garnet is said to instill commitment and fidelity in the heart of the receiver. It's such a protective stone that it's been known to warn its wearer of impending disaster by becoming suddenly dull and lackluster in appearance.

Garnet will help to reenergize the wearer.  Because it helps to increase one's self confidence, garnet is a great stone to have on your desk at the office or to wear or carry while interviewing for a job.  It makes you more attractive to others and is known to bring good luck to business success.

Because of its lovely dark red color, Garnet is also a romance stone and help can revitalize dull relationships.  Keep a cluster of garnet on your bedside table or wear a necklace of garnet to bring passion back into your life.

Since it brings to the wearer true self-confidence, it will help to lesson anger -- always the mark of an insecure person.

Physically, garnets help to normalize blood pressure. Garnet set in gold is said to increase sluggish immune systems and to help people suffering from depression.

Garnet is great for:

Career success
Increasing confidence
Enhancing passion in relationships
Increasing luck in love and career
Protecting the wearer from negativity
Inspires commitment and loyalty
Increases fertility
Overcome depression

Garnet remedies:

1) Place under your pillow while you sleep to help cure depression
2) Place three garnet stones on your desk to ensure success
3) Place two garnets on your bedside table to ensure fidelity and passion in your current relationship or, if single, to attract the right relationship to you
4) Wear in jewelry to overcome depression, increase self-confidence and aid in protection from negativity
5) Place garnet in planters on either side of your front door to protect your home from theft

Increase Your Financial Abundance

Everyone is dealing with this crazy economy, and I don't think it's getting any better for a good, long time.  However, that DOES NOT mean you have to suffer through it.   More people became millionaires during the Great Depression than during any other time in the 20th century.  WOW!  Think about that for a minute.  Colonel Sanders started Kentucky Fried Chicken during this period.  Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began their company in 1939. And statistics show that 10 million millionaires will be created in the next ten years.

So, don't buy into the hype of this economic downturn.  What happens in the stock market when the economy tanks?  People sell their stocks. They panic and hold on to every last dime.  And then what happens?  We really start to tank.  Everything freezes.  Europe is reconsidering their whole economic structure, Greece is in real trouble, and America's bond rating was downgraded for the first time ever.

The reason why I am fascinated by history is because we can learn from it.  When we hold on to money, when we panic and freeze, everything stops and stagnates.  How many of you remember gas lines in the 70's?  Or buying a house at an interest rate of 18%?  No one wants that again.  So what can we do?

Spend money? Act as though nothing is awry?

No, of course not.

Here's what you can do:

1) Limit frivolous spending if you need to.  You just might not need to spend $5 at Starbucks everyday.

2) Start saving some money to appease your worries.  Even if you only put $5 away each week, you'll at least feel as though you're doing something to help your situation.  Then you won't beat yourself up.  Guilt is a huge stagnating force when trying to manifest money.

3) Practice spiritual tithing. Wonderful, amazing, miraculous things happen when we give back to the universe.  Tithing does not mean you have to give to your church, although that is where the tradition began.  Tithing is the practice of giving away 10% of your income each week.  The goal is to tithe 10% of your weekly income to wherever or whomever spiritually uplifted you that week.  If your friend really help you out of a bind, purchase a gift certificate for him/her.  If you felt moved by a story of a family who lost their home in a fire, contact the news station and find out where you can send a donation.  When my husband was in the hospital that summer, I can't tell you how many people gave to us.  It was such a relief to not have to worry about money during that time, but the cards and letters and thoughtful gifts that poured in were literally life savers to me.  Here's just a brief sampling of what we received: a gift basket including hospital necessities like Chapstick, moisturizes, pen and paper, and a guest book so people could leave messages for my husband.  The ladies at the Lancome department send me a basket filled with all types of makeup.  We received a lot of gifts for our children which were so very thoughtful.  People sent mass cards, books, DVDs, magazines and lots of food.  One woman mailed me a check for $100 every month for over six months.  I never met her, but I keep her in my prayers always.  She'd attach a note that would read, "Buy something special for yourself. Take care of yourself. Go get your nails done and remember to breathe." She always included a thoughtful and appropriate Bible verse.

Be creative with your tithing and have fun with it.  Years ago, I interviewed a woman for our newspaper who drove over to a local orphanage once a week to cook them a homemade meal.  I met a retired man who spent his free time making and giving away birdhouses.  I have a friend who hand sewed blankets for every patrol car in our city to be handed out to children being taken to protective services.  A good friend of mine spends her Fridays at the woman's jail teaching them inspiring ways to live their life.

Tithing will change your life.

I read a story once about a woman in the 1950's who worked all week as a maid.  She kept trying to tithe 10% but she could never make the numbers add up.  So, she decided to start selling boxed lunches at a local factory on her Saturdays off.  All the money she made, she promised to God.  Soon, she was so successful that she was making well more than the 10% needed.  After two years, she quit her job cleaning houses and opened up a very successful restaurant.

4) Visualize yourself with more money.  What would your life look like if you never had to worry about money?  What if you had enough money each month to pay all your bills, deposit some in savings, invest a bit, tithe your 10% and still had money left over?  What would that look like?  Remember, if you can't picture it, you can't create it.

5) Remember Suze Orman's words of wisdom: If you need more money, go out and make it.  I am probably the Queen of finding and creating jobs.  As a teacher for more than a dozen years, I never once took a summer off.  I always scrambled to find a job, something to bring in income.  Usually, I would pick up extra classes at the community college.  Sometimes, I would tutor kids.  I worked for a real estate company, I taught workshops, I wrote freelance articles, and for two summers I was the Cookie Lady selling cookies to five area coffee shops.  Whenever I couldn't find a job, I would create one.

And finally, some metaphysical tips for creating and bringing in more money:

1) Tie Red Ribbons around all the pipes in your house.  This is an old Feng Shui cure.  Good chi gets drawn out of our house through the pipes, but with the energy of the color red which vibrates to the number 4 (balance, stability, strength), it stops the good energy from flowing OUT of your home.

2) Keep toilet lids, washing machine lids and bathroom doors closed at all times for the same reason listed above.

3) Find out where your money corner is in your home.  There are nine areas in our home which draw in certain energies.  Your money corner is located in the opposite left hand corner from your front door.  Stand at your front door with your back to the inside of the front door.  The farthest left hand corner of your home from that position is your money corner.  Place images of money in that corner such as your jewelry box.  I have a crystal tree in my money corner to remind me that money can grow on trees :)  I also have a lot of green crystals here to draw in the abundant energy.  Green aventurine and green jade are especially good choices.  Bamboo and jade plants are considered lucky money plants.  Make sure you do not have anything in this area of your house that reminds you of financial stressors.  This should not be where you pay your bills.  This area should also be meticulously clean and cleared of all clutter.

4) Write yourself a check.  On New Year's Day every year, I write myself a check.  I write down how much I want to make that year.  I sign it from the Universe, and I tape it to my bathroom mirror.  And guess what?  I always come either very close or right on that number.  I never surpass it, though, which is a good reminder to never limit yourself. It's tricky because you want to choose a number that's more than you're making now but not so high that you'll look at it  every day and mutter, "Yeah, right."  It needs to be believable, so you can envision yourself creating that abundance. You'll be amazed at the way the universe responds to this.

5) Practice being happy for other's successes.  Maybe you already are, and that is great.  But sometimes you'll find yourself at that place in your life where nothing is going your way.  And you will almost always have a friend for whom life is going amazingly well.  And while you're happy for him/her, inside you might be thinking, "Why not me? Life is so unfair."  Practice saying to yourself, "That's for me too and maybe something better."  We are all connected.  We are all one.  When something good happens to one us; it really does have a good effect on all of us.

6) Write down the number eight and place it in your wallet.  The number 8 attracts money to us infinitely.  If you turn the number 8 on its side, it's the infinity symbol.  Once a woman wrote to me and said, "I really want to take your workshop, but I can't afford it now."  I told her to write down the number 8 and put it in her wallet.  She did and that evening she went with a friend to one of those lottery places and one the exact amount of the workshop!

7) One more feng shui cure -- besides the money corner, the kitchen is symbol of our wealth since food always equated wealth.  So it's imperative that your kitchen is always clean.  If you can place a small mirror above your stove, that is said to double your prosperity.

Don't let money -- and all the fears and worry that come with it -- control you.  Remember -- you are always in control of your money and of how much you make and spend.  If you want more money, go out there and manifest it.  In the legendary words of Ru Paul, "You better work."  Just kidding.  Work smarter, not harder.  Don't give into the fear.  Don't allow worry to rule your life.  Surrender your fears, tithe each week to wherever you were uplifted, and know that you are an infinite child of God.  You were not created to spend your days surrounded by guilt, worry and fear.  You were created to light up your corner of the world.  Manifest your abundance and shine on.