Thank You for Everything Jim Ward

When I moved to Virginia Michael was still working at The Monroe Institute. In my no-green-card-stranded-at-the-end-of-the-road status, lagging behind with setting up good techno communication systems, I sometimes found myself being fairly lonely. One especially slow-moving day, a car pulled up in front of the cabin. A man stepped out of the car and as I walked down the stairs to check out who this was, he casually handed me a copy of a magazine with a big smile. This, it turned out, was Jim Ward, publisher of Echo.

Forty-five minutes later or so, we had been sitting chatting on the wooden bench at the bottom of the stairs, and I found myself having been both entertained and comforted. Hearing about my background in the magic and spiritual community in Sweden he quickly asked me to write an article for Echo. When I finally got around to feeling secure enough to write in a second language, he not only printed it, but put a photo of me on the cover as well. To this day I do not know why. But Jim Ward always did what he wanted with Echo and didn’t care for explaining himself very much.

There was something about Jim Ward, his way of moving in the world (as there was no such thing as time, but only relationships), his British gentleman style, his chuckles, his way of stating little sentences such as “Good for you!” even if what you had said was the most mundane thing you can imagine, his dry humor and his way of never ever backtalking anyone. To me he was what some people would refer to as a good soul. Caring, it seemed to me, about the important things in life, and not sweating the rest.

Now Jim Ward has passed, and the alternative community of Virginia, as well as the world in general, is a little less for it. But, on the other hand, after having lived such a rich life, giving so much to so many, grieving is not what I feel like doing. Rather I feel like celebrating him, because he was also a very cool dude, that probably decided it was time for adventures in the Summerlands or wherever he decided to begin his new grand journey.

Michael and I had the privilege to spend time with Jim over the years, and that was always a pleasure. How he single-handedly managed to put Echo together, as well as distribute it all over Central Virginia is another of the mysteries that Jim brings with him to the other side. There are two of us, and we make it work on a whim and a prayer.

How do you live right? I certainly don’t know. But I do believe that Jim Ward had some pretty good clues. Here are some things I learned from him, not so much through what he said, but through how he was and interacted. If something seems right, just do it. Don’t care so much about what other people think. Take a chance on something and see where it leads. If you listen more than you talk, you will know many interesting things. Be good. Be happy. Like people. Do what you please.
We will miss Jim Ward. Don’t miss the memorial at Unity of Charlottesville. See details in Michael’s editorial and in this issue. I will leave you with a poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye dedicated to Jim, and to all the readers of The Echo World in this cold December month:

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
Editorial by Sofia Karin Axelsson, first published in the December issue of The Echo World.

Little Moments in the Tree-House

Power

Little altars

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Accessing Inner Guidance - Anyone Can!

The Echo World columnist Frank DeMarco will be teaching and instructing ways to improve accessing your inner guidance in a free lecture followed by lunch and a $45 lunch and workshop at Bridge Between the Worlds, Keswick, Virginia: Saturday November 17th from 10 to 5.

Author Frank DeMarco

Accessing Inner Guidance

With Frank DeMarco

Do you ever wish you were psychic? Ever wish you could access extra-sensory sources of guidance?

Well, you are psychic, and you do have extra-sensory sources of guidance. Everyone is born psychic. We all come complete with inner guidance. It’s just a matter of learning to connect with it consciously, instead of accidentally and perhaps unknowingly.

Connecting is a skill that can be learned quickly and easily. Frank DeMarco, an experienced communicator, will show you how. In a free two-hour lecture and Q&A, he will make you experience a different way to see the world – to see your life – that removes the barriers to such communication.

Then, in the course of an afternoon workshop, he leads you do move from understanding to doing.

You learn how to:

* Recognize guidance when it comes in unexpected forms.

* Recognize and decode messages from guidance.

* Overcome bad habits that hamper communication.

* Deepen your conscious connection with your unconscious mind.

* Distinguish between accurate and inaccurate sources of information.

Learn to connect consciously, and use that connection surely, naturally, and easily in all areas of your life. Join Frank DeMarco for a two-hour lecture and Q&A (free), and an optional personalized three-hour workshop ($40).

Frank DeMarco was cofounder and Chief Editor of Hampton Roads Publishing Company. He is the author of thirteen books, including Muddy Tracks, The Sphere and the Hologram, and Babe in the Woods all centering on his own personal psychic explorations and discoveries.

Frank is regularly a guest instructor at The Monroe Institute and has authored and had published thirteen books. He is a great teacher and these events will wonderfully enhance any attendees life.

Read the newly publishet booklet on Accessing Guidance.

We Traveled Far

We have traveled far to get here. Through womb, over oceans, flying through countless astral skies in the night, forging our dreams into reality. It’s been a long ride. So, we should honor ourselves for being here.

I met a man in Downtown Charlottesville not long ago, soon after coming back from an almost month-long trip to Sweden. Michael and I were on a Virginia tour with gorgeous Maureen J. St. Germain and had a couple of in-between hours to catch our breath. Michael took a nap in our van – which he has this otherworldly capacity to do at any time – and I wandered the streets, catching my breath my own way, by just landing in the middle of it all and watching what will come by. What came by was a man by the name of Sirius. He politely asked if he could sit down beside me on one of the outside chairs and I said yes. Turned out that Sirius had four bullet wounds on the inside of his left leg, and three on his right hip. At this moment in time he was homeless and was still waiting for his pension. We talked about war. Sirius was brave and strangely without bitterness. After a bit there wasn’t too much to say but the general, “But, you’re still here.” He turned to me and answered with a certain level of emphasis, “Yes, I’m still here.”

There we are. However far we traveled, however many war-wounds we have, we’re still here, and that is quite an accomplishment in itself. I ended up buying Sirius breakfast in the closest coffee shop. Not out of the goodness of my heart, mind you, but because he was a gift to me. It’s a curious thing, but through my life, whenever I’m tired and wonder where I am in life, someone, usually someone whose living on the streets, and is far worse off than I am, comes by and gives me perspective. I call them my personal gods. I hope you know that any homeless, battered person is most likely a god in disguise. So, treat them well.

And while you’re at it, treat your family, friends and anyone you meet kindly as well. You never know how long they will stick around, or exactly what they have endured to get here. At this moment in time, we’re all either very strong, or very lucky to have made it all the way to this Earth, in all her glory. We’re probably both. And we are all, oh-so-vulnerable. Nothing is to be taken for granted. And nothing is safe. If it was, it wouldn’t be life.

The Echo World celebrates late autumn with a low-key, but heart-felt November issue. Ellen Luksch writes about the difficult art of not making assumptions in her article “The Third Agreement,” LaQuinn writes about the art of smiling and yawning (in the right way). Majjsan Maria Kindgren writes about “The Sadness of Being a Pot Plant,” and our very own amazing medium Linnea Star writes about the spiritual essence of plants. In the Cuisine Section you get access to the most healthy, earthy recipes and health tips. But also, reflections on herbalism and requests from the Earth to communicate. We also have beautiful poems in the Poetry Section, and a quite interesting mix of reviews in our Review Section - among many other things.

We have traveled far to get here. Through womb, over oceans, flying through countless astral skies in the night, forging our dreams into reality. It’s been a long ride. The Echo World changes with the seasons but remains at its core the same. This time of year we’re earthy, we reflect and we’re thankful to be able to do what we do. We hope to do more, but we don’t stress. We remember to call our family instead of making grand plans. We’re here. That is a great feat. Thank you for reading. Honor yourself and your personal hero’s journey. Be kind. And most of all, allow the late autumn calmness to embrace itself around you like a blanket that smells of wet leaves, mushrooms and the very sweetness of life. Remember you are part of this Earth. Treat her well. Treat yourself well. Treat your fellow beings well. Make an autumn prayer. As you go, here’s one you can use if you wish (or use one of your own):

I thank you for being here. I thank myself for being here. I thank the Earth for allowing me to. It’s time to see the sacred in everything.

I wish you happy traveling on your upcoming adventures, and happy reading at this moment.

This editorial was first published in the November issue of The Echo World.