00:00 Mel – INTRO
Hello everyone, join me a small medium at large as we explore the world of Spirit, energy, tarot, mediumship, psychic abilities, Angels, oracles, paranormal activity and basically anything downright spooky. If any, some or all of those things interest you, then you've come to the right place my friends, I'm Melanie Mahmood and welcome to the Spirit Level podcast.
00:30 Mel – WELCOME
Hello, hello, hello and welcome my darlings to this new Moon in Libra episode of the Spirit Level podcast. Well -what a fabulous night we had last night with our dear and much-loved friend and former guest on the show -Maria Atherley – at the Love Shaq! Maria we really need to get you back on the show my darling. She has a lot on, but I promise I’ll get her back on!
Anyway, back to last night……. I have done many, many new moon ceremonies but always just little ole me on my tod setting my intentions for the next month or so. Last night though – WOW!! We held a lovely circle of 6 lovely, lovely ladies – Hi to Angie, Anita, Cesca and Mand - and the energy was immense! We mediated, did some breath work, which was really powerful and finished with a beautiful out of this world and out of this body sound bath. I felt so chilled and blissed out like I had been on holiday for a week – but all in two hours at the Love Shaq.
I genuinely did not want to leave. And it got me to thinking. You know we go to the gym and do workouts for our bodies and health, but we do not generally do any kind of a workout for our spirit’s and the soul. Last night was definitely that a workout for the spiritual being – I felt cleansed, rinsed out and wrung out of all negativities and I slept like a doll last night! I floated out of the love shaq last night and I still feel amazing the next day. So, thanks to Maria, I have added to my New Moon intentions – I am definitely going to pick up and maintain a daily spiritual practice of some variety again - to help maintain my spiritual health because it just makes me feels better in general, less stressed, more relaxed and that’s got be good for the physical health surely?!
So, the plan is - at least once a day, 10 – 15 minutes of stopping still, which believe me is very difficult for me! Consciously Grounding and mediation/breath work or sitting in the power whilst listening to some Hand Pan drums (because I’m loving them at the moment and for some reason, seem to instantly chillax me the hell out of me) I will report back in a few weeks and let you know how it goes – why don’t you join me and get your own spiritual workout plan? If you would like some more info on Maria and her incredible work at the Love Shaq – we’ll put her details in the episode notes – I’m definitely going back – I want to experience the Cacoa ceremony next. I’ll report back when I have.
So, before we start the show proper a quick work about the New Moon in Libra – all about relationships this one and not just with others - also with yourself and also with money. So, if you need or want to change any aspect of how you connect with others, it doesn’t have to be lovers or family – can be work colleagues or even how you see yourself – this is the New Moon energy that will boost that intention.
If you have any blockages or negative barriers around finances or money- this is also the New Moon to address those. Remember folks – cash is just another form of energy – it ebbs and flows and if you recognise this and more importantly don’t feel bound by it – you’ll find it flows a lot freer – if you worry about and feel a lack in- any area of life actually– lack is what you’ll get and attract because the Universe wants to give you what you’re feeling. It’s the basic laws of attraction and energy. So, think positive and think big and that’s what will be delivered! Now on with the show……
Coming up in the show this week -:
SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN is the featured crystal in CRYSTAL CORNER.
There will be some more of your listener questions, and if you would like your question to feature as a 3 card Tarot reading, then please get in touch with us.
In MR M’s MENAGERIE, THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION is being discussed.
In HOUSEHOLD HOCUS POCUS, ROSES feature this week.
And in TIME FOR TAROT, THE 6’s are our featured cards.
So, here we go.
05:22 Mel - CRYSTAL CORNER
Welcome to this week Crystal Corner and this week we're going to meet SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN. Now SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN is a black Obsidian stone with gray, white, snow, flaky patches on it. Now as a black stone we know, and you should recognize from previous episodes, that black stones automatically have very protective qualities as all the darker coloured stones do. But as well as having the qualities of pure Obsidian, SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN has all of these and a little bit more so.
It's another value crystal being Obsidian based. It's very protective and forms a shield of protection against negativity and against the physical environment and it protects against spiritual or psychic attack.
But the snowflake condition to this is actually felspar, which creates the snowflake pattern, and this adds purity and calm to the mix. So, it's calming for body, mind, and soul. It gently releases emotional blockages and teaches the power of surrender, showing the lessons to be learned from experience, whether that be good or bad.
It's very centering. It helps massively with meditation technique. It physically aids removal of blockages, wound healing, hardened arteries, joint pain, arthritis and anything to do with the extremities. So, if you've got cold hands and feet and anything to do with circulation.
I really like SNOWFLAKE OBSIDIAN. It's got the feel of a patient teacher. It's that type of vibe and not quite as in your face as Obsidian itself. It's the birthstone of Virgo and it has Virgo's balanced energy.
As ever, take a look at the CRYSTAL CORNER store for examples, and if you'd like to add your own to cherish to your own personal collection, don't forget I always send a free rose quartz as a gift from me to you with every purchase, which also assists in us keeping the podcast going.
07:41 LISTENER QUESTIONS
Mel - And now it's time for listeners questions, what we got this week, darling?
MR M - Thank you Mel and hello again everyone. Three listener questions this week, Mel.
Mel - OK.
MR M - The first is from Rebecca in Halifax, who asks -: What is the strangest experience you have had whilst doing a reading?
Mel - Oh, goodness, right. I've had loads. But the one that springs to mind was a spooky evening that I did for a charity event for a friend of mine. She'd invited a lot of people round, I think was about 10 of us and I'd ask them all to bring an item of importance or a photograph or something, to do some psychometry with.
We did it in her front room and everybody was sitting there, and I was aware that all the spirits that had come to visit were sitting on the stairs because that's how the house was configured, and the room was false. So, I knew they were sitting there, and they were just waiting very patiently and coming in and out and going back up the stairs and the lady who was sitting nearest the door could hear them going up and down the stairs and she said, I can hear somebody on the stairs, and I was just, I just started laughing. I said yeah, that's where they’re sitting.
But on that same evening as I'd closed the session down, I've got other stories about that evening, coz it was amazing as we were closing the session down and I asked all spirits thank you very much for joining us and please return to the spirit realm, the back door opened and just slammed shut and everybody shot through the air about 2 feet.
It was, it was a really good night and we raised a lot of money for Help the Heroes, I think it was or something like that, but yeah, that's probably one of the funniest evenings we've had.
MR M - Thank you Mel. Well, if I'd been in that room...
Mel - You'd have lost your absolute hair.
MR M - I'm telling you now, I would have been down that road. Usain Bolt wouldn't have caught me. I'd still be running now.
Right, our second question this week comes from Carol in Barrow, who asks how do you recognize spirit is present?
Mel - Oh hi Carol. Well, everybody, I think every medium is different, but with me, my calling card as I call it, I start and now that I'm even talking about it's starting to happen. So, as soon as I start talking about Spirit and I start talking about connections, my calling card and my guide step in. So, I've now got tingling all the way down my left cheek.
So, I start to feel numb, so it feels like I've been to the dentist and had Novocain or something and I've got a numbness and a tingling in the left-hand side. Sometimes, I feel hands on me. I can, I can feel at Marias do last night, I could feel hands on my face.
Yeah, I can kind of feel. I just physically feel them here and then I'll start to see wisps or things will go across my eyesight or I'll catch something out the corner of my eye and that's my psychic, my third eye, not my physical one.
Sometimes it's physical, but generally it's the tingling in my face that's my calling card, so expect an activity filled afternoon now Mr M that you've pressed the doorbell.
MR M – Brilliant!!!
Mel - Get your running shoes on.
MR M - Yeah, I think that that gutter needs cleaning or something of such ilk to keep me out of the way.
Mel – Are we going to the pub.
MR M - Now that's an excellent idea, yes, pub is beckoning. I mean just on that Mel; it just interests me that that's for you. In your circle and over the years that you've spoken to people, has anybody else had the similar type of experience to you as in the face goes numb or anything like that? Anything similar? Or is it each individual person? What's the strangest one you've heard?
Mel - Oh goodness, gosh. I mean, you know. Think about the amount of Mediums I've met through training and whatnot. Everybody is different. Everybody is different, but they do have similar, so they either, they'll just get a knowing they'll just feel the vibe. Some of them get tingling in the fingers and the hands or up the back of the neck. That's another one that I get.
Yeah, generally it's similar, but the weirdest one. The weirdest one was probably somebody that could always smell toast or smell something. Roses is a common one, because I don't know if you know this, but the scent of heaven is roses. Yeah, there you go. So, if you start to smell roses, angels are about or spirits about.
MR M – Lovely, thank you and our final question this week Mel comes from Julie-Ann in Chester, who asks whilst clearing out my mother's attic, I found an old Ouija board. I didn't know it was something my mother had experienced in the past. Have you ever used one and do you have any advice for a first-time user as I'm really tempted to use it. I think you answered something similar a couple of weeks ago, Mel, but it doesn't help to revisit and sorry it doesn't hurt to revisit, and we get new listeners all the time, so.
Mel - Yeah, I think we did, didn’t we? I think we did have a question about Ouija boards or spirit boards as they are often called. Basically, it is a tool. It is a tool in order to contact or can be used to contact Spirit. But there are rules and regulations around it. I would not use a Spirit board as I call them not a Ouija board, a Spirit board, Ouija board was a toy that was manufactured by Parker Knoll Company in America. Don't think they are toys. It's not to be used as a toy, so I prefer the term Spirit board.
Everybody knows them as Ouija boards, so that's what we're talking about. But if you don't know what you're doing, energy wise, if you don't know how to protect yourself properly if you don't know how to open a circle and close a circle. How to protect yourself, your home and how to stop any communication that you don't want.
Do not use one is my advice. If you do know what you're doing and you are in a circle that can protect itself, never use one on your own. That is a big no no. Then they can be a useful tool, but there is a theory that only lower vibrational spirits use them. That's not been the case in my experience. I've used them and contacted high energy beings. People who work with the light and who work on high vibrational levels, so I don't believe that, but unless you know what you're doing then don't use one. Please find somebody who does know what they're doing, and you can use them safely, but just remember, everything is an experiment.
Don't take everything that is said by them as gospel. You know, always have a sensible approach to it and you shouldn't go far wrong. But please never on your own.
MR M - Good advice, Mel, and thank you, and a big thank you to Rebecca, Carol and Julie-Ann for getting in touch with us.
If you would like to send Mel a question or have your question feature as a 3 card tarot reading or want to get in touch with us for any other matter, whether it be suggestions for show content, guests or just to get in touch, then here is how to do so.
Mel - Thank you to everyone who submitted a question. There are a number of ways you can get in touch with us. You can get in touch with us via email and the address is thespiritlevel22@gmail.com.
On Facebook, on the group's search for The Spirit Level.
On Twitter, search for thespiritlevel.co.uk. We have a Twitter handle which is @thespiritlevelU, which is a capital U.
On Instagram, search for me, Melanie Mahmood or thespiritlevel.co.uk
Or you can click on the Speak pipe link in the episode notes and send us a voicemail free of charge.
In addition, there are a number of resources for you to download and access on our website totally free of charge, at www.thespiritlevel.co.uk we look forward to hearing from you.
15:14 MR M’s MENAGERIE
Welcome to Mr M’s Menagerie.
Hello everyone, and welcome to this week’s show where I will be looking at one of the most progressive, innovative, and structured civilizations from our ancient history. The Mayans. At the start it is worth noting that the term Mayan, refers to a group of people who have inhabited Mexico and Central America from ancient times, and indeed still do so today.
The Mayan Civilization consisted of the Maya people, an indigenous group who for hundreds of years, have continuously inhabited the lands comprising modern-day Yucatan, Mexico and southward through Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras.
The earliest Mayan settlement dates to 1800 BC. The earliest Maya people, were farmers, growing crops such as maize, beans, squash and cassava. Their skill at farming and their organizational prowess, would eventually lead to the Olmec people becoming the first true Mayan civilization. The Olmecs thrived, and as well as their expertise at farming and developing different agricultural techniques, they were also expert miners, using jade, obsidian and magnetite, to produce beautiful artifacts. They were superb architects, planners, and traders. Their skill and prowess in trade, led to the creation of an elite class of people amongst the population, with these people wielding enormous power, in terms of wealth, social standing and cultural direction.
The Olmec created the Mayan calendar (more on that shortly) and had an enormous influence on subsequent peoples in respect of their worship and spiritual rituals. The Olmec’s appear to have suffered some cataclysmic event, sometime during the period 400 to 350BC. No-one really knows the reason for the Olmec decline, but suggestions from historians, archaeologists and researchers range from a prolonged period of drought that prevented crops being grown, some sort of infection or virus that devastated the population or some sort of bacteria that infected the water supply. Whatever the reason, the Olmec’s rich traditions regarding building, astronomy, farming, trade and ritualistic practices were passed down, and it was not long before the region was again populated and trade and farming again flourished.
I mentioned earlier the Mayan calendar. I’m sure there are many of you listening who will have heard of this calendar. It rose to prominence in 2012, when it was widely reported that this calendar foretold the ending of the world. That was not true of course, and whilst the year 2012 did indeed in the Mayan calendar signal the end of an era, it was that that age of civilization was to come to an end and a new era was to begin. The Mayan Calendar consists of three separate corresponding calendars: The Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). Each of them is cyclical, meaning that a certain number of days must occur before a new cycle can begin.
The Long Count is an astronomical calendar which is used to track longer periods of time. The Maya called it the “universal cycle.” Each such cycle is calculated to be 2,880,000 days long (about 7885 solar years)
The Tzolkin, meaning “the distribution of the days,” is also called the Divine Calendar and the Sacred Round. It is a 260-day calendar with 20 periods of 13 days, and it is used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events
The Haab is a 365-day solar calendar which is divided into 18 months of 20 days each and one month which is only 5 days long.
In addition to these calendars, The Mayans were one of the first people to adopt a structure of writing, using symbols as a means of communicating. In addition, they wrote their ‘language’ on paper, using highly technical skill and used books to convey their beliefs.
The Mayan use and recognition of the number 0, hundreds of years before it was widely accepted and brought into practice, helped in their understanding of geometry, assisted in the building of great and lasting monuments, and led to a highly ordered and structured commerce and financial set up.
There was a strong belief in celestial Gods, with The Mayans believing in creator beings, and worshipping the celestial bodies such as stars, the sun and the moon. There was also a highly organized and ritualistic element to The Mayan people. Ritual bloodletting and human sacrifice are known to have taken place and in support of the worship of these deities, monuments, buildings and in particular, pyramid type structures were constructed. The Mayans were, even by our modern-day standards and equipment to hand, phenomenal astronomers, who accurately predicted and followed the movement of the stars and planets. Those amongst The Mayan people who did this, were revered as it was believed that they were in direct contact with The Creator Gods and were believed to be able to see into the future. Such was the power that these astronomers had, that many of the great buildings and monuments were constructed at their behest and with startling accuracy as to their alignment with the stars.
As well as the Mayan expertise in agriculture, mining, construction, mathematics and finance, they were also adept at healing, using indigenous plants for herbal treatment of ailments and sickness. They were also skilled at the use of certain plants for antiseptic and psycho active treatment of illness and sickness.
They farmed cocoa and distributed chocolate, and there is evidence that they domesticated the turkey, and used the meat and the feathers for trade.
They were the first known civilization to use rubber. The Aztec, Olmec, and Maya are known to have made rubber using natural latex—a milky, sap-like fluid found in some plants. Ancient rubber makers harvested latex from rubber trees and mixed it with juice from morning glory vines, which contains a chemical that makes the solidified latex less brittle. By mixing up rubber using different proportions of the two ingredients, researchers have since found that the properties of the rubber created vary differently, with some being bouncier than others. It is known that ball games were very popular in The Mayan culture, so a bouncy runner ball would have been used, whereas there is evidence that a more rigid type of rubber was used in the production of footwear. This was done thousands of years before the process of vulcanization was used in the production of tyres, and with no mechanical equipment being utilised.
For centuries, The Mayan civilization flourished. However, by the time the Spanish started arriving in Central and South America in the late 1400’s, early 1500’s, the great Mayan civilizations were almost completely wiped out. Very much like the Olmec’s some 2 centuries before, little is known as to how or why great numbers of the resident population died or deserted their cities. Speculation that it was as a result of the Spanish invaders carrying out mass murders is a fanciful idea, and whilst there is no doubt that the Spanish did carry out some atrocities, they certainly would not have been able to almost wipe out thousands of people over a vast area. Similarly, it has been suggested that as a result of the Spanish arriving, they brought with them disease and infection that was too much for the indigenous populations immune system to cope with, and that this is the reason for the population decrease. I’m sure that there is a semblance of truth in this, but again, from documented Spanish accounts, whilst there were outbreaks of infection, again, it wasn’t enough to carry out the mass extinction type of event that seems to have taken place.
For their part, the Spanish invaders, were quick to press home their advantage in the region. With their superior firepower and organized armies, they quickly made their way through all of Central America, plundering the resources they found. However, whilst the Spanish looted, pillaged and overran the villages and cities, they also were amazed at the architecture, literature and organized living that they found.
The descendants of The Mayan people still inhabit Mexico and the Central America region to this day. With some 70 different dialects spoken and over 8 million natural descendants from the ancient Mayans living in the region. Many Mayan descendants maintain numerous remnants of their ancient cultural heritage. Some are quite integrated into the majority Hispanicised mestizo cultures of the nations in which they reside, while others continue a more traditional, culturally distinct life, often speaking one of the Mayan languages as a primary language.
The Mayans left us a great legacy. Even to this day, vast and complex temples, buildings and monuments are still being discovered in the dense jungles and forest of the region. Such was the scale of The Mayan civilization that their art, culture and scientific achievements will be able to be studied and appreciated for many years to come, with the promise of more new discoveries in the future.
Well, that brings me to the end of this episode. I hope you enjoyed hearing about The Mayans. In the next instalment of Mr M’s Menagerie, I will be discussing The Voynich Manuscript.
So, until then, thank you for joining me and it’s back to Mel for the rest of the show.
26:02 Mel - HOUSEHOLD HOCUS POCUS
Welcome to this week's HOUSEHOLD HOCUS POCUS and we're still in the garden this week, folks and we are with beautiful ROSES.
Now, as you would rightly think, ROSES are often linked with love spells, but they're also used to represent motherhood or any situation where mysteries need to be investigated and Knowledge acquired.
Moon magic, psychic powers, and dreamwork roses are really, really useful for. Now. Here's where the color of the ROSES has a particular importance.
The type of spell work in which they may be helpful. So red means passion and attracting passion, so use RED ROSES for any work with regards to that. WHITE means peace. PINK for any friendship work and YELLOW is for true love and soulmate attraction, so here's a little love spell tea to share with your intended or friend who you want to be more than a friend.
So, take two handfuls of ROSE PETALS in the color of your intention, so red for passion, white for peace, pink for friendship, yellow for your soulmate and true love. Get 2 cups of water, 6 lemon balm leaves, two slices of ginger root, a stick of cinnamon and a teaspoon of honey to bind it. In a covered pan of water, place all the leaves, roses, the lemon balm altogether and gently simmer until the petals go clear and translucent, which will be about a couple of minutes. Then add all the other ingredients and simmer gently for 10 minutes and then share with your loved one or that be your lover or your friend or both.
I could go on for ages with the different use of ROSES, but that's it for this week folks. I'll see you next time.
28:13 Mel - TIME FOR TAROT
Welcome to this weeks' TIME FOR TAROT. and this week we are looking at the 6’s. We'll start with the SIX OF WANDS. I love this card because this is the victory card, so as well as having the Yes card, we have a victory card. So, this means reward for hard work. So, it's been recognized, its promotion, its progress, and sometimes public recognition.
In reverse, it means a lack of confidence. A fall from grace, and also a big ego is being involved here. So, if the SIX OF WANDS turns up, then that's what it's all about. Victory and public recognition.
Onto the SIX OF CUPS. Now, the SIX OF CUPS is all about reunion, it's all about nostalgia and childhood memories and that kind of childlike innocence. It's content in a relationship. It's, it's just feeling nice and secure.
In the reverse, it means that somebody is stuck in the past. They're being unrealistic and somewhat naïve.
Onto the SIX OF SWORDS. Now the SIX OF SWORDS is all about transition. It's moving on to a calmer situation from choppier waters. If you have a look at the card, it's a boat with six swords sticking in it, and the boat is moving on the river. The symbolism of the cards is really important in this one because it's about emotional baggage and whilst we often say don't take emotional baggage with you forward. In this case, you kind of have to because if you remove the swords then the boat would sink, so it's about learning lessons from experience, but not letting it hamper you at recognizing it. Learning the lesson and moving on.
In reverse, it means the opposite. It means that that person can't move on, there's too much emotional baggage and they're too invested in it and that's what's blocking the progress at that time.
Finally, we have the SIX OF PENTACLES. This is all about generosity. It's about charity. It's about giving back. It's about balance and sharing wealth and good fortune. Now that can mean money, but it can also mean these skills and your time. So, it's being generous with your time and your energy.
In reverse. It means the exact opposite, and it can also mean that there is an issue with debt. So be careful when that one turns up, because it'll usually indicate something around debt in that situation.
So that is the 6’s. Join me next week when we will discuss the 5’s.
31:07 Mel – CLOSING
Well, that’s it for this week folks.
Coming up in next week's show -:
SODALITE is the featured crystal in CRYSTAL CORNER. There will be some more of your listener questions. In MR M’s MENAGERIE, THE VOYNICH MANUSCRIPT is being discussed.
In HOUSEHOLD HOCUS POCUS, it’s back into the kitchen, with STAR ANISE on the menu and in TIME FOR TAROT, THE 5’s are our featured cards.
A big thank you to BUZZSPROUT for hosting us, and for the technical help and advice from the folks at AUDACITY & AUPHONIC.
A big thank you to my beloved husband and producer, Mr M for his help and support.
A massive thank you to you, our listeners, wherever you maybe for your continued support and your lovely messages. Please subscribe and review our podcast. Your feedback will help us improve the show.
Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or via your usual podcast provider.
Please visit the website www.thespiritlevel.co.uk where you can book a personal reading with me, wherever you are in the world, enrol on one of the courses, browse the online store, for the crystals that we talk about, crystal packs, power bracelets, aromatherapy and scented candles, or just to get in touch, we always love to hear from you and don't forget you can also send us a voicemail by clicking on the Speak Pipe link in the episode notes or via the podcast page on the website. It’s free of charge and no download required.
So, until next time folks look after each other and love and light to you all.
