June 2013 Newsletter
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Welcome!
Greetings!
Welcome to the first IFSK Internet newsletter...quite different from the paper ones I sent out years ago! My plan is to put these out semi-regularly to keep you informed about what is happening in the Foundation. In between newsletters, check out the website. As always, I'm open to suggestions for workshops and other special events. I hope you enjoy what we have presented here.
Marilyn
Office: (407) 673 - 9776
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IFSK Director
Our Mission:
To promote the Religion, Science and Philosophy
of Spiritualism in an environment where Seekers can explore and develop freely and safely.
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In This Issue
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There are a lot of great things coming this year, and more things being added all the time. There are special events for everyone, and there are local development classes where anyone can come and learn. See the articles below for more information...
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Upcoming Special Events
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Stansted-in-Florida
(July 18 - 21, 2013)
This is a 4-day intensive course focusing on the development of your personal Psychic / Mediumistic skills. It is patterned after and taught by Tutors associated with the Arthur Findlay College in Stansted, Essex, England. This course will follow the same level of quality and the same format as courses taught regularly at the College. Each day begins with a meditation. Throughout the day you will atend classes with instruction and hands-on exercises to develop your personal skills. The Tutors for the event will be Professional Mediums Jan Marshal and Eamonn Downey, Tutors at the Arthur Findley College in England. Each day's activities usually end about 8:00 PM. All of this without the cost of an airplane ticket or jet lag!
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Smoky Mountain Fairy Retreat
(May 15 - 19, 2014)
This retreat is simply for relaxation and for the lovely experience of the Smoky Mountains. It is an opportunity to meet and connect with like-minded people. You will also have an opportunity to learn about the Fairy Realm and Other Elementals. We will likely do a meditation or two. Also, there will be an opportunity to learn about Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils and Reflexology. Each evening you will have an opportunity to sit in the lovely Mediation Garden to observe whatever happens there in the early summer evenings. The food is all home-cooked...by me...and I've been told I'm quite a good cook.
*For more information, or to sign up for any of these events, please go to the events page of the IFSK website.
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News from Past Special Events
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2013 Fairy Retreat
While the main reason to attend the North Carolina Fairy Retreat is to "see" the Fairies, the Other Elementals, and Spirits of Terra Nova, what we really do there is relax, enjoy the mountain scenery and pleasant weather, and do things we normally don't get to do. So often, "Life" in our everyday world simply gets in the way of what we really want to do with our time. Taking these few days in the mountains removes all the obstacles...there isn't really cell phone ability or internet connection to hold us to our work world or family obligations...it is time away for ourselves to do what we want...not what "life" insists we handle.
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We originally had the retreat for only three days, and that was nice, but we found that just as the third day was ending we really were just starting to remember being relaxed. So we added the fourth day a couple of years ago. Now, by the time we part to travel home, we go refreshed and renewed.
Each year there are different activities to entertain us. In 2013 we had a Nature Walk, a channeling session with Rev. Marian Starnes and an opportunity for a Sweat Lodge experience that turned into a Drumming Ceremony due to rain. But the activities aren't really the draw for me...it's the letting go of pressures and "life"...time for remembering me. I do hope that one year you choose to join us. It's usually a pretty great group who attend...especially the Fairies, the Other Elementals and the Spirits of Terra Nova.
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Suggested Reading
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Two of the most frequently asked questions I receive are "I don't want them to suffer...are my loved ones OK?" and "What is it like for them where they are now?" While I can relay messages from Departed Spirits to their physical Loved Ones, and try to reassure them everything is alright, having a better understanding of life in the next dimension would simply help answer those questions. I want to recommend two books that I feel nicely explain where we go after we leave our physical bodies: Life in the World Unseen, by Anthony Borgia, and The Blue Island, by J.T. Stead. Combining the information in the two books gives such a complete picture of what happens after we die that they are especially good to read together.
Life in the World Unseen was communicated by an English Priest after his death. He realized that he had been teaching things "incorrectly" while in his physical body and wanted to set the record straight so to speak from the Afterlife. He talks a bit about the actual transition and a lot about the daily life after arriving. One of my students described this book as a "cornucopia for the mind" as it goes into vivid detail about what life is like. For those people who believe in reincarnation, Life in the World Unseen would be considered the life we live between lives.
The Blue Island was communicated by J.T. Stead after his death on the Titanic. This book talks a great deal about the actual transition and only a bit about daily life after passing. What I especially liked about this book was how it could be related to the passing of nearly 3,000 people on 9/11. Knowing how there are so many who come to comfort people as they pass, even when the number is large, surely will help ease the mind of those left behind to deal with the tragedy.
If you have trouble finding these two books locally you can try the bookstore of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches in Lily Dale, NY. (This link takes you to the list of books they have available. To order, you will need to call or email them using the information on their website.) You could also try contacting the Morris Pratt Institute in Milwaukee, WI. Both of these organizations have several books of interest on this and related subjects. The books are also available at Amazon.com (here and here) in paper and Kindle forms. Alternatively, you may download a free pdf version of these and other books here.
Happy reading!
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I Was Thinking...about Balance
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Balance...I'd like to talk a bit about balance. It seems that "word" has been front and center in my groups for a few months. Two students especially brought this idea to my mind.
One student came to my class for the first time hoping I could help her. For about three years she had been going to teacher after teacher for help...she said about 15 total. She had been unable to work or even barely leave the house. Because of her being unable to work, her family was nearing bankruptcy and life in general was not good. During the meditation in class, she started to rock and move in her chair until I thought surely she was having an epileptic seizure. We talked about what had happened and I suggested that maybe she had opened up to Spirit influence too rapidly and needed to ground a bit before continuing to develop her Psychic / Mediumship skills. During all that class my main focus was on her and keeping her stable. She emailed me a few days after that class and told me that, since I obviously didn't understand energy, she didn't think I could help her and would continue looking for a teacher who knew about energy.
The other student that also brought the idea of balance to my mind was a young man who had been told by other mediums...they were not his teachers...that he had the best gifts they had ever seen and that he would do great things in the future. That truly sounds wonderful and possible. Unfortunately, he also was troubled by not being able to turn off Spirit contact or the problems of physical people, including a neighbor who was sick. He simply felt too much of what was happening around him. I suggested a few things, including taking control of his physical life by grounding instead of being so open all the time. After a short time he emailed me saying I didn't understand that he'd been born an Empath, which meant he had holes in his auric field since birth, and had no control over these things. He'd found someone who knew how to repair holes in auras and would be doing those things to help himself.
I'm not going to pretend I know everything, because surely I don't. I did consult with one of my teachers from England in case I was way off base. His opinion was that I was correct in my responses. So...back to the word balance. We are all Spiritual Beings choosing to have a physical experience. After we leave our physical bodies we will return to live a completely spiritual life, but while we are here on the earth plane we need to also honor the physical journey we have chosen to take. And that means living a balanced life..in tune with Spirit and that portion of life, while also grounded and focused on the physical aspect of our life. If we choose to focus only on the physical we lose that wonderful joy of being in tune with Higher Consciousness. If we choose to focus only on Higher Consciousness, we have difficulty in managing our everyday life like my two students.
Think of being in balance as you would think about being able to ride a bicycle. If you lean one way or the other you will fall over and likely hurt yourself. You can't favor the right or the left...you need to be in the center, upright, not leaning either way. Our life needs to be in balance in all aspects, not just Spiritual and physical. Think about work and play. Family and friends. Saving and spending. Simply everything.
So...balance...my "word" for the month. May your everyday be balanced and filled with happiness.
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Ongoing Development Classes
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Home Development Circles are an opportunity to develop your personal Psychic / Medium / Spiritual skills in a supportive environment with other "like-minded people". They usually meet only once per month and are designed to be a part of your life...not your whole life. These types of skills need to be "grown into... absorbed... processed" until they feel right for you.
Each class includes a meditation, a topic or lesson, and then finishes with each person actually doing an exercise to develop their personal skills. The classes are designed to build one's working knowledge and skill level over time. Classes are for those who have been having "things" happen in their life that they would like to understand and control, and for people who are not sure they have any skills but would like to try to develop them. They are for you if you want to use them professionally or if you want to use them only in your everyday life to enhance the journey. Besides personal development, these classes are an opportunity to be around like-minded people where one is free to discuss topics and beliefs normally not discussed in your everyday world.
Please let me know if you plan on attending a class at least one day before. If you are attending for the first time, plan to arrive about 30 minutes early so we can chat. Each class is $25 per person per class and can be paid either by check or cash at the class.
Yes...these are skills you can learn and use every day!!!
Below are the class dates and times in each area that I teach:
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Edgewater
Mixed-Level
Saturday Morning
(10:30am - 1:00pm)
- June 29th
- July 27th
- August 24th
Meets at:
Unity Community Church
Edgewater Plaza
2102 S. Ridgewood Ave., Unit #8
Edgewater, FL 32141
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(7:00pm - 9:30pm)
- June 26th
- July 24th
- August 28th
- Sept. 25th
- Oct. 23rd
- Nov. 20th
- Dec. 18th
Meets at:
Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville
(Channing Room)
7405 Arlington Expwy.
Jacksonville, FL 32211
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Orlando
Mixed-Level
Monday Evening
(7:00pm - 9:30pm)
Meets at:
Center for Mind Body Spirit Connection
6832 Hanging Moss Rd.
Orlando, FL 32807
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Gainesville
Advanced-Level
[Closed Group]
Saturday Morning
(10:30am - 1:00pm)
- June 15th
- July 13th
- August 3rd
- Sept. 14th
- Oct. 12th
- Nov. 9th
- Dec. 14th
Meets at:
Unity of Gainesville
8801 NW 39th Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32606
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(1:00pm - 3:30pm)
- June 27th
- July 25th
- August 29th
- Sept. 26th
- Oct. 24th
- Nov. 21st
- Dec. 19th
Meets at:
Caring Palms Massage
& Reiki
1112 Third Street,
Suite 7
Neptune Beach, FL 32266
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(7:00pm - 9:30pm)
Meets at:
Class meets in a private home. Please call
(407) 247-7823 for location and directions.
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Gainesville
Mixed-Level
Saturday Afternoon
(2:00pm - 4:30pm)
- June 15th
- July 13th
- August 3rd
- Sept. 14th
- Oct. 12th
- Nov. 9th
- Dec. 14th
Meets at:
Unity of Gainesville
8801 NW 39th Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32606
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Jacksonville
Advanced-Level
Thursday Evening
(7:00pm - 9:30pm)
- June 27th
- July 25th
- August 29th
- Sept. 26th
- Oct. 24th
- Nov. 21st
- Dec. 19th
Meets at:
Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville
(Channing Room)
7405 Arlington Expwy.
Jacksonville, FL 32211
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(7:00pm - 9:30pm)
Meets at:
Class meets in a private home. Please call
(407) 247-7823 for location and directions.
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Melbourne
Mixed-Level
Tues/Thurs Evening
(6:45pm - 9:30pm)
- July 2nd
- August 6th
- Sept. 5th
- Oct. 3rd
- Nov. 5th
- Dec. 5th
Meets at:
Class meets in a private home. Please call
(407) 247-7823 for location and directions.
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The Villages
Mixed-Level
Tues. Morning Group
(11:00am - 1:30pm)
Tues. Afternoon Group
(3:30pm - 6:00pm)
- June 25th
- July 30th
- August 27th
Meets at:
Class meets in a private home. Please call
(407) 247-7823 for location and directions.
*New Group in The Villages will form in the fall of 2013. Current groups at The Villages are closed to new students.
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Hope to see you soon...
Marilyn
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