Wistful Wednesday

Healing and Spiritually

by

Susan Peterson Avitzour,

Author of And Twice the Marrow

of Her Bones

At the age of twelve, my daughter Timora was diagnosed with leukemia.  I’d like to share with you how Reiki, a traditional Japanese healing technique, helped her for a good part of her time in this world, until she left it at the age of eighteen.  The story is, I believe, a wonderful example of how body and spirit are intertwined, and how attending to our spiritual side can help us even as we face physical hardship.
Reiki, which means “mysterious atmosphere; spiritual power,” channels healing energy from the spiritual world through a practitioner’s hands into the body of a person who is physically or emotionally suffering.


When Edna, the Reiki Master to whom we turned, laid hands on Timora, her pain would decrease, the color would return to her face and lips, and she would relax as she could under no other circumstances.  She told me it was if a gentle light was radiating from Edna’s hands and spreading throughout her body.  Edna taught her to lay hands on herself between sessions, which relieved not only her pain, but also the depression that would grip her from time to time, and helped her sleep on nights when everything seemed just too much to bear.


No less important than the treatments themselves were the five Reiki Principles that Edna taught Timora to recite every day:


Just for today, I’ll let go of anger.
Just for today, I’ll let go of worry.
Just for today, I’ll be grateful for what I have.
Just for today, I’ll work with integrity.
Just for today, I’ll be kind to others and to myself.


Timora, raised in our observant Jewish family, had always had a strong religious sensibility, but Reiki gave her the opportunity to express her spiritual leanings directly and practically.  After three treatments, she asked to study Reiki in order to practice it herself.


I’ve written a memoir entitled And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones, which describes my journey with Timora over the six-plus years of her illness, and without her after she died.  In it, I describe how she delighted in her ability to relieve other people’s suffering, even when she herself was undergoing the most extreme of treatments:


Timora was a natural healer, a vessel for a life-affirming energy that would pass through her to others when she laid hands on them…. Once, while she was hospitalized for her second bone marrow transplant, Tehila, [a hospital] volunteer… came to visit her feeling nervous and upset about something that was happening in her life at that time. Timora got out of her bed and made Tehila lie down. She then stood by the bedside and gave her a Reiki treatment.  Tehila fell asleep almost instantly and woke up a short time later feeling much better, saying she hadn’t had such a refreshing and relaxing rest in a very long time. Timora later told me the healing energy that had passed through her body into Tehila had refreshed and eased her as well – physically as well as spiritually.


Timora’s Reiki journey didn’t end, it seems, even with her death. Edna has told me that sometimes, when she is treating a client, she feels Timora right there alongside her, strengthening the energy that is pouring through her and into the person they’re both helping.


Edna told Timora the day we met her, “Reiki won’t cure you, but it can heal you.”  After my daughter’s experience, there is no doubt in my mind that whatever our burdens, if we open ourselves to what the spiritual world has to offer us, it will help us heal – by easing and enriching our path through this unpredictable, and often cruel, material world.

To learn more about Susan Avitzour, author of And Twice the Marrow of Her Bones, we invite you to visit her site - http://www.fiveyearslater.blogspot.com. For the full virtual tour schedule, visit http://bookpromotionservices.com/2011/01/06/twice-the-marrow-virtual-tour/


(My apologies to the author. After several attempts, I was unable to upload pictures of the author and her book to blogger.)

Twilight Thursday

The Sorceror's Dream

I have always been interested in all things meta-physical, whether it's the probability that ghosts exist or how our dreams effect our waking lives, so when I was presented with the opportunity to read and review this book, I jumped at the chance. I've always considered myself a rather spiritual person, but in a broader sense than what you learn about in Sunday school; I think this has a lot to do with my fascination for my Native American roots, which I am still exploring to this day. So the fact that Dreamshield connects with Running Deer, a North Americ

an Indian "Man of Knowledge," was a major factor in my interes

t in this book.

I have to say that this is the type of book that cannot be rushed. You really owe it to yourself to take your time to lose yourself in it, to become part of the experience. In so saying, I must admit that I am still losing myself in it, but I am truly enjoying the experience. Perhaps I will resurface at a later date with a more in-depth view of the book, but for now I leave you with this: If you are interested in the power of dreams or the realms of magic, if you're curious about what the title of this book really means or just want to read one woman's fascinating story, you might want to give The Sorcerer's Dream a try.

We invite you to join us on the virtual tour for The Sorcerer’s Dream by Alysa Braceau (Dreamshield). The full schedule can be seen at http://bookpromotionservices.com/2010/05/03/sorcerers-dream. You can learn much more about Drea

mshield and her work on her website – www.dreamshield.nl. The book can be ordered on Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Sorcerers-Dream-Dreamshield-Alysa-Braceau/dp/1609101561. SPECIAL OFFER - Every time you post a comment on any tour post - you will be entered into a drawing for a $35 Amazon gift card -- so, share your thoughts with us.

About The Sorcerer’s Dream: An Initiation into the Sorcerer’s World

This is the autobiographical story of a young woman bumping into the enigmatic sorcerer Running Deer and her initiation into the sorcerer’s world and mastering conscious dreaming. It takes the reader throughout the magic realms of the unknown and gives a new approach to the traditional training of women sorcerers.

The riveting autobiographical account The Sorcerer’s Dream written by Dreamshield takes the reader throughout the magic realms of the unknown and mastering conscious dreaming. This book, following the traditions of Carlos Castaneda and others, gives a new approach to the traditional train

ing of women sorcerers.

The author describes her initiation into the surrealistic world of dreaming and magic, following the teachings of ‘Man of Knowledge’ Running Deer. In the heart of Amsterdam, a thrilling stride unfolds in obtaining the knowledge of the Second Reality on the way to the ultimate goal: finding the Totality of the Self!

The combination of unusual instructions and experiences within the sorcerer’s world and the level-headedness of a very Dutch woman offers the reader excitement and contemplation on the way to the source of this reality, finding the ultimate self through the experiences and understanding of Dreamshield herself. Up until the last page the reader remains intrigued whether Dreamshield will reach her goal.

Right by the author’s side or facing her stands the character of Running Deer. Sometimes mysterious, then challenging, strict as a guru, or vulnerable as a visitor in a foreign country. However, the precise description of these distinctive steps on the road to her initiation stand like milestones in the landscape of this unique history.

About Alysa Baceau, Dreamshield

Dreamshield (Alysa Braceau) studied social work and is a freelance journalist who writes for newspapers and magazines. She has a Healing Practice and gives workshops about the Art of Mastering Conscious Dreaming and Dream Healing.