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Newsletter March 2015
Mbl 0419 531 859; Business owner/Editor/Columnist - Raili Tanska
email – soulgifts2012@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/SoulGifts http://www.youtube.com
https://www.amazon.com/author/railitanska
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The theme for this month’s newsletter emerged and began to solidify whilst I
was reading emails, FaceBook posts, listening to a variety of webcasts,
researching topics of interest and so on. Everywhere I turned the words
blessings, or Grace (free, unmerited favour of God), leapt out at me. As often
happens, it spurred me on to further research. What I discovered are rich
traditions around the concept of blessings across all Eastern and Western
cultures and religions, New Age movements and Indigenous cultures. It seems it
is possible to find a blessing for just about anything – whether it be a formal
ceremony or something less structured. I am reminded of the launch of our
yacht, ”Finnally”. She too was blessed. A strong maritime tradition also exists
for sea-going vessels and those who sail on them.
Food has an energetic signature or vibration. As do all living things. Pure, raw,
wholesome foods have a higher vibration. Some of that is lost in cooking.
BLESSIN
GS
Biblical traditions - "To be blessed"
means 'to be favoured by God'.
Blessings therefore are directly
associated with God and come from
God. Thus to express a blessing is like
bestowing a wish on someone that they
will experience the favour of God.
In Judaism: the function of blessings is
to acknowledge God as the source of all
blessings.
Muslims will frequently pronounce
"peace and blessings be upon him"
when mentioning the name
of Muhammad. Muslims will also greet
one another with a blessing every time
they meet and depart.
In Hinduism Puja is a religious ritual
performed as an offering to various
deities, distinguished persons, or special
guests. It is modelled on the idea of
giving a gift or offering to a deity or
important person and receiving their
approval.
Reference: Wikipedia

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However, it seems that the time honoured tradition of voicing gratitude and
asking for our food to be blessed has benefits other than bowing our heads and
thanking God. Blessed food has a higher energetic vibration than non-blessed
food.
“Being present in a state of love and gratitude allows us to receive more energy from
the food on multiple levels. This consideration is the origin of the tradition of praying
and giving thanks before taking a meal. The positive energy of prayer charges the
food with beneficial life force. Kirlian and GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization) camera
photography confirm that food that has been blessed has a brighter aura and thus
carries more life energy.”
http://katrinevolynsky.com/concious-eating-bringing-awareness-food-choices/
In Australia we are blessed to live a country rich with many cultures and
traditions. I have used Google shamelessly to search out a selection of Table
Blessings. In honour of our Indigenous friends let it be said that their spiritual
traditions and ceremonies are linked very closely to their Ancestors, the land,
all it provides.
Enjoy this snapshot of our cultural melting pot -
Jewish: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam borei minei mezonot.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who creates varieties of
nourishment.
www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/
Finnish: Siunaa Jeesus ruokamme, ole aina luonamme, Auta meitä muistamaan että
sulta kaiken saan. Amen.
Jesus bless this food, always be with us. Help us to remember we receive
everything from you
Hindi: He Bhagwan ish bhojan ke dene ke liye dhanwad. Shanti. Shanti. Shanti.
Dear God bless this food. Peace. Peace. Peace.
Irish: God willing, may our tea be steeped in serenity, sweetened by sharing, and
surrounded by the warmth of Your Love
http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/Blessings
Scottish : Some hae meat and cannae eat. Some nae meat but want it. We hae
meat and we can eat and sae the Lord be thankit.

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http://www.beliefnet.com/
Tagalog (Philippines) : Maraming salamat po sa aming pagkain. Tulad ng pagbibigay
sustansiya sa aming katawan, nawa'y mabigyan rin ng sustansiya ang aming
kalooban. Nawa'y mabiyayaan rin ang mga taong humanda nito.
Thank you for our food. Just as our body is nourished, may our being be
nourished too. And may the people who prepared these be blessed.
Mga Tagalog na Panalangin: Tagalog Prayers Before Meals
Islam: Bismillah.
In the name of Allah.
http://islam.about.com/od/prayer/qt/DuaMeals.htm
Random other:
Hey dude, God man, cool dude high in the sky, thankx for this grub I'm gonna
devour! (Anon)
Lord, please bless this sumptuous feast, and bless the pizza guy who delivered
it. (Keith Rawlinson, Eclecticsite.com.)
Blessings are not restricted to just meals and food. I would like to invite
you to follow me on a brief journey, dipping into some other forms that
blessings can take.
 I grew up in a Christian home. My memories are full of occasions where
blessings were an integral part of our life from cradle to grave. Dad always said
a prayer of blessing when he first sat in his car, asking that he and everyone on
the road be blessed and protected. Other more sombre memories surface too.
Like the Sacred Rite of Healing and Anointing with Oil when my mother was
gravely ill. This deeply moving and intimate Rite ended with the laying on of
hands. Everyone present stood in a circle around my mother and placed their
hands on her head as she was blessed. She recovered.
 Over 25 years ago, when my father was in his early sixties, he was
diagnosed with asbestosis. He had an incurable, inoperable mesothelioma in the
base of one of his lungs. The doctors said he would not live past Christmas that
year. Friends and family all over the world prayed for healing for him, leaving
the outcome in God’s hands. During the early hours of the night before he was
due to go into hospital for a biopsy, he woke to a strange sensation going

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through his body. He described it akin to an electric charge shooting through
from head to toe. Later we heard about the experience of another family
member. That person woke up on the same night at the same time knowing that
“Vic is going to be OK” and promptly went back to sleep. The biopsy results came
back negative. There was only scar tissue present. Dad lived to his mid 80’s. He
was indeed blessed.
 Sometimes blessings result in miraculous physical healings such as those
experienced by my parents. Equally as healing and miraculous are the blessings
that people receive as part of their preparation for death. Whatever the
outcome, the impact on the Mind, Body and Soul is profound and life changing.
 You may have heard of the ground breaking work with water by Dr Masaru
Emoto. His book “Hidden Messages in Water” contains some amazing
photographs showing how different frequencies (thought and intent) affect
water molecules. Water that has been exposed to negative frequencies looks
like mud. Healthy water looks like snowflakes. The conclusion I draw from his
work is that blessing our drinking water changes its energy frequency for the
better. That has got to be a good thing to do. Water, Consciousness & Intent:
Dr. Masaru Emoto - YouTube
 Jonathan Goldman, a writer, musician and teacher, is also an internationally
respected authority on sound healing and a pioneer in the field of harmonics. He
states “Sacred sounds encoded into water have the ability of cleaning up water
that is polluted, damaged and imbalanced…..allowing healing to occur.”
www.healingsounds.com/a-dream-of-water
Twelve years ago he established an annual World Sound Healing Day - A global
movement, people from all walks of life chant a healing mantra on February 14th
at midday, sending healing energy to the earth, the waterways and humanity.
Sound travels in waves. At the time of chanting the earth is enveloped in a
sound wave of healing energy for 5 minutes as multitudes chant together. Five
minutes a year is not a big ask, is it! I for one am willing to spend more than five
minutes a year to heal our world and ourselves. It does not seem too onerous an
ask. www.worldsoundhealingday.org
 Gregg Braden, scientist, author and visionary is internationally renowned
as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. In his book “The Isaiah Effect”,
he writes about the healing power of prayer. “Scientists suspect that the
relationship between mass prayer and the effect of those prayers is due to a
phenomenon known as the field effect of consciousness.” Interesting, isn’t it?!
http://www.healingsounds.com/praying-from-the-heart

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Greetings and farewells too, can be blessings.
I leave you with this Ancient Sanskrit blessing.
It is one of the most beautiful I have come across.
Namasté
"I honour the place in you where Spirit lives
I honour the place in you which is
of Love, of Truth, of Light, of Peace,
when you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
then we are One."
‘The gesture Namaste represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within
each of us that is located in the heart chakra. The gesture is an
acknowledgment of the soul in one by the soul in another. "Nama" means bow,
"as" means I, and "te" means you. Therefore, Namaste literally means "bow me
you" or "I bow to you."
To perform Namaste, we place the hands together at the heart chakra, close
the eyes, and bow the head. It can also be done by placing the hands together in
front of the third eye, bowing the head, and then bringing the hands down to
the heart. This is an especially deep form of respect. Although in the West the
word "Namaste" is usually spoken in conjunction with the gesture, in India, it is
understood that the gesture itself signifies Namaste, and therefore, it is
unnecessary to say the word while bowing.
We bring the hands together at the heart chakra to increase the flow of Divine
love. Bowing the head and closing the eyes helps the mind surrender to the
Divine in the heart. ‘
References ;
www.yogajournal.com
http://www.taketheleap.com/namaste.htm

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