But it’s a reality… we all have to face death eventually. I wouldn’t want to get hit by a Mack truck tomorrow, having never explained to her that there’s something good to this whole death process. I needed her to at least understand my personal philosophy.

So to make her feel a little better, we made a pact. We decided that if I died early in life, I would come back and tickle the tip of her nose so that she knows I’m okay. We agreed that nose tickling would be less scary than let’s say, seeing me hovering over her bed.

And it occurred to me… nose tickling is actually a metaphor for the way our spirit guides communicate with us.

Though they may not feel it, guides do understand human fear. They know that dropping a book out of the bookshelf would probably scare the shit out of us. I mean I don’t know about you, but even if the book landed on the exact page for something that I needed to see at that exact moment, I’d be uber paranoid and ready to pull out the holy water! Most of us need more subtle signs – myself included.

The guides don’t want us to be all weirded out. Nor do they want to interfere with our free will. So they reserve the big neon signs for major emergencies – like if your toddler is about to jump in the backyard pool.

Otherwise they gently tickle our noses – meaning they softly pop a thought into our minds. Nose tickling is far less intimidating, but it’s also quite easy to ignore.

So what should you look for? Here are three nose ticklers my spirit guides do:

Give me a seemingly random thought while I’m talking to someone about an important matter.

When I first started giving readings I’d start thinking about old conversations I’d had with other people.

Each time during those sessions my client would end up telling me something important that pertained to the topic of my old conversation. The conversations are my nose ticklers. I realize now that if a conversation passes through my mind, it has a message for my client.

Keep showing you the same random word for days or weeks.

I recently went through what I call the temperance phase. In tarot, temperance is the 12^th card in the major arcana. It’s not like a good, good or a bad, bad card. It has an almost esoteric feeling that can be hard to decipher if you’re looking for a cut and dry, “what-should-I-do-now” type of message. And it’s not a word that I would normally use – even on my superfluous vocabulary days.

For a while temperance suddenly started popping up all over the place. I pulled my tarot cards for the day, and there it was dead center… temperance. (Nose tickler.) Not just once or twice, but maybe four times this happened.

“Ummmm spirit guides,” I said, “I know you all want me to see this. But I don’t quite understand the meaning I’m supposed to gain.” Two days later I’m reading a book, and it gives the meaning of temperance – in a way that I could fully understand, nonetheless.

The spirit guides want you to know that you can ask for clarification on a nose tickler. I absolutely do it all the time.

Make you stumble into a conversation that totally applies to you.

I’m not usually an ear hustler (aka eavesdropper). But sometimes my spirit guides lead me into a conversation that I’m supposed to hear. How do I know it’s a nose tickler?

Well it’s usually when I don’t want to hear anyone else’s conversation. Let’s say I’m at a café working on my laptop. I’m in the flow of an article, when a couple sits down next to me and starts chatting. Loudly. Uuuuugh!

In my mind I’m thinking, “Shut up!” I want to move. I want some $300 noise cancelling headphones. Then they’ll start talking about something that has direct meaning to my life. I mean like a dead on center. And the advice given during that conversation is clearly meant for me. Clearly, clearly, clearly!

I find that the conversation nose tickler comes up when I’ve chosen to ignore other nose ticklers. For example, I may have gotten other signs before and fluffed them off. The conversation is like confirmation without asking for it.

Your mileage may vary.

This is just a representative of how my spirit guides talk to me.

Your results may be completely different, and that’s okay. What I want you to do this week is pay attention to everything you believe are signs from spirit guides. If you think to yourself, “Mmmmm, I wonder if that’s a sign…” it usually is.

And in case you’re wondering what channeling is, it’s when you go into a deep meditation and allow a spirit guide to communicate through you. You may speak their words, or write them. (I spoke.)

One of the most popular channelers today is Esther Hicks. She channels a spirit guide named Abraham, and their main theme is the Law of Attraction.

Now I say “to my great surprise” because I’ve never been totally interested in learning how to channel. After all, I’d already been communicating with my spirit guides for over a decade, what could channeling offer me?

It offered me a lot, actually…

For a few months now I’ve been bumping into a spirit guide who looks like a nun.

I mainly feel her presence when I’m applying healing energy to one of my daughters many boo-boo’s. She stands behind me in a solemn prayerful position, helping me direct the healing energy properly.

In fact, when she initially came around, I thought for sure it was a sign that I was to become a healer. I even journaled about it, questioning my inner self, “Am I really to become a healer? I thought I was meant to give readings.”

It was a bittersweet entry. I enjoy healing, but I love readings.

On the other hand, sometimes the Universe is trying to ever-so-gently show us our intended path – which is why I took the appearance of the nun so seriously. Was this a sign of another shift in my life?

Yes and no

When I did the channeling, the nun was the spirit guide who came through. I relaxed, cleared my mind of any preconceived notions, and felt her warm energy.

And then her message began…

Apparently we’ve known each other in spirit form for many centuries. I was once a nun in France and that’s when she and I became familiar with each other.

As a nun I loved God, but I also believed and engaged in many esoteric topics as well. Which is probably why I enjoy solitude, quiet time and esoteric topics so much in this lifetime.

She went on to say that I am indeed a healer in this lifetime.

Aaaack! My rational mind thought…

Here it was – the big lowering of the boom on my head! Or so I thought.

She went on to explain that I was a healer through my words. The words that I write (because I am a writer by trade) were to be a healing force in many, many lives.

My words would offer transformation. They would help others to find themselves. They could heal – if I allowed them to.

I understood her message completely.

I’d always looked at healing as a physical act. Your body is ill, you take or do something to get better, and your body gets better.

But healing, in its purest form, is all about change. Changing from a place of pain or confusion to one of peace and clarity.

It’s not necessarily a physical occurrence. And if you’re called to be a healer, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re supposed to be a doctor or a Reiki practitioner.

For example, you can help heal someone’s self esteem by offering them a kind comment. You can heal a rift by forgiving. Or you can provide healing to a situation by simply walking away from it.

Why the nun said what she said – this is important

To be continued in my next entry…