Do you remember “Puff the Magic Dragon” who lived by the sea in a faraway land called Honah Lee? The 1963 song by Peter, Paul, and Mary is about the ageless dragon playmate for little Jackie Paper and his imaginary dragon daydream adventures.
Well, you may hear more of Puff as we enter 2024, the Chinese Year of the Yang Wood Dragon which officially begins February 10. You or a loved one are a Dragon if born in the years 2024, 2021, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940, or every 12 years earlier.
What do these mythical flying, fire-breathing creatures mean in dreams? They may symbolize everything from protection to wealth in your current and future life.1
The personalities of Dragon people may even be present in your dreams. Traits of Yang Wood Dragon people and characteristics for 2024 are charismatic, intelligent, confident, lucky and gifted.2 Dragons have power, vigor and charm, and all of this can spill over into dreams.
Chinese zodiac compatibility rules show that Dragon people get along well with Rooster, Rat and Monkey signs. However, Ox, Sheep or Dog signs should be avoided when choosing a life partner. Watch for these animals in your dreams.
Many of us have animal or angel dream guides. Some of us have Dragon dream guides that empower us with Dragon energy. They come in various colors, shapes and sizes from the five Chinese elements of wood, fire, earth, water and metal. They are magical shapeshifters that take on different colors and shapes to hide in dream backgrounds while the Dragon’s cousin, Lizard, can change color and blend into its surroundings, making it seem invisible.
The 2024 Yang Wood Dragon is green and symbolic of heaven, maleness, light, activity and penetration, which may appear in dreams, not as dragons but as dragon-symbolic objects. Green is health, wealth and energy. A Dragon spirit animal can symbolize self-love and empowerment to help you tap into your strength. Dragon dream energy is present in odd numbers, mountains, azure color and an unbroken line. Symbolic dragon dreams leave positive residual power energy felt by others.
You don’t have to be born in the Year of the Dragon to have Dragon energy. People may be naturally attracted to your wisdom and trust your judgment because you can shift the shape of your perception to see both sides and offer a fair assessment. Look for the play on words in dreams because these legendary beasts have left a deep-rooted mark on our collective imagination that flows into our dreams.
Puff the magic daydream dragon gave out his final roar when little Jackie Paper didn’t come to play anymore. However, Puff may reawaken soon because what goes around comes around, and this year, the Dragon is back.
Original article published in Desert Health on January/February 2024
Is love an innate emotion, or must it be taught to our children? And what about friendship? These are essential questions for many of us homeschooling our children during COVID-19. When children are isolated from their peers, how do they learn the crucial life-skills of love and friendships necessary for the rest of their personal and working lives? Who will teach them these skills? These important questions are discussed in depth during the VIDEO interview with children’s books authors Monica Talbot- Kerkes and Sharla Charpentier, cousins, soul-sisters, and mothers themselves, and posted below for your watching pleasure.
Research (1) states that love might be one of the most quintessential human conditioning capacities. And according to author Leo Buscaglia, love is learned. Buscaglia says, “We remain gobsmackingly naive about the practice of love, approaching it instead with the magical-thinking expectation that we’re born excellent at it.” (2)
Just as we “learn” to be human, we also learn to love.
Love and friendship are self-made and, therefore, avoidable through our choices. We control how much of ourselves to invest in learning love and creating lasting friendships.
Love is an emotion, that is true. But it is also a “response” to feeling and, therefore, an “active” expression of what is felt. Love is not learned by osmosis. It is acted out and acted upon. Romantic ideology defines love as an enthusiasm rather than a skill that must be taught and learned.
The process begins in childhood. We absorb the picture of the world we are fed and emulate the psychoemotional tools we observe. Psychiatric trio Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon explore this concept in their book, A General Theory of Love (3) which focuses on the scientific research complexities of love and its role in human well-being, self-esteem, and self-worth.
From earliest childhood, our brains link with people close to us in a silent rhythm that alters our brains’ structure and establishes life-long emotional patterns like love. It makes us who we are. Parents shape their child’s developing self. What we read to our children as a teaching tool is important because our society dangerously flouts essential emotional laws.
Remember,…Love is learned.
In the book The Llove Llama Travels the 7 Continents, Llove makes a concerted effort to find love and make friends by traveling the world. This is an essential lesson for children and parents concerning the importance of peer groups, friendships and that love is more than an emotion. Llove is a skill sought and practiced worldwide.
Now, during Covid-19, while our children and family members are in lockdown, and online homeschooling has become the “new norm,” teaching love and why friendship is important is more necessary than ever.
Animals and pets can come to our rescue concerning love.
If there is one thing that can teach unconditional love, it is animals and pets. In the book The Llove Llama, Llove learns about love and friendship from other animals as she travels the world in search of a special friend. As I read the book, it became apparent that even fictional story creatures dream of love as the authors write,
The Llove Llama had a dream,
To find a special girl or boy.
She wanted a FRIEND
To share LOVE, FUN, AND JOY! (4)
Is this the dream our children are currently dreaming from behind their computers in a virtual classroom? So, during these difficult times of COVID lockdown, love must be taught by parents. Books are an excellent teaching tool and resource, so choose them with care because they may forever change the way you and your child think about human intimacy, friendship, and LOVE.
A “Dynamic Interaction”: Leo Buscaglia on Why Love Is a …. https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/30/leo-buscaglia-love-2/ brainpickings.org/2014/06/30/leo-buscaglia-love-2/
A “Dynamic Interaction”: Leo Buscaglia on Why Love Is a …. https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/06/30/leo-buscaglia-love-2/ brainpickings.org/2014/06/30/leo-buscaglia-love-2/
Through prayer, we speak to our Higher Power. Through dreams, our Higher Power speaks back to us.~ Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
Suicide has surpassed car accidents as the number one cause of injury-related death in the United States, especially for cancer patients and teens. (1)(2) What if we could make a change and impact lives?
On May 9th alternative medicine expert Dr. Deepak Chopra launched “Never Alone” and the film “The Offering” to address suicide. (3) Deepak Chopra partnered with entrepreneur Poonacha Machaiah, actress Gabriella Wright, and director Michel Pascal to unite a global coalition of mental health charities and initiatives to bring solutions to a problem plaguing all ages, sexes, and socioeconomic levels; suicide.
The call came from Reverend Dr. Temple Hayes, one of the online presenters and participants in the movie The Offering. She invited me to speak on the event with 24 presenters, which included Rev. Marianne Williamson, Rev. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Joan Borysenko, and Dr. Bernie Siegel, to name just a few.
It left me with feelings of purpose and doubt. To what do I deserve this honor? Perhaps it is because cancer patients often have suicidal thoughts, and I’m a three-time survivor. Could I…would I…dare to bare my soul on a worldwide live-streaming event?
The idea of sharing my dream about Franciscan Monks, who came into my dream and saved me from myself, was both invigorating and frightening. What if they think I’m crazy and need to be on meds, not on their event? I thought, but, graciously said, “Yes! Thank you.”
During my live video simulcast on Facebook, only one question was asked by Gabriella Wright, “What’s your unique solution to help people feel better mentally and spiritually in life?”
It is my belief that through prayer, we speak to our Higher Power. And, it is through dreams that our Higher Power speaks back to us. So, my answer was simple, “Connect with spiritual guidance through dreams, prayers, and meditation.” Then I shared the story of the monks who were the answer to my prayers….
When diagnosed with a 9×11 cm breast cancer recurrence, my fear of slow death, needles, and hospitals made me feel trapped and consider suicide. Then something miraculous happened. After crying myself to sleep, I had a dream. In the dream, I dreamed that I woke up, and three Franciscan monks were looking down at me.
“I know why you’re here. I’m dying. You may want to warn God that I am coming because I have some really big bones to pick with Him.” I said.
“Don’t you remember?” one monk said.
“Remember what?”
“Before your birth, you told us you wanted to live during a time when miracles were ignored, and the gift of science was being worshiped so that you could prove that sometimes science goes so far, then comes God. We said we’d be with you every step of the way. You’re not dying yet.” “What the heck was I smoking up there when I said that?” The monks laughed and walked out of my dream.
I didn’t die or commit suicide. I finished my treatments of chemotherapy and radiation therapy during two of the three times while dreaming solutions to any of my challenges. That was twenty years ago. What it taught me is how our darkest hour can be a defining moment if we realize we are not alone and have chosen our difficulties to help others. What if…a crisis is a choice coming to fruition?
Suicide is an escape for people feeling trapped, and the second cause of death in America for children and adults ages 10-34. (4) I invite you to watch my Never Alone interview for FREE on my website below, and the introduction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-wdEHyHZpY The movie The Offering will soon be available on TV.
If you are in crisis, call the toll-free National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos is a survivor, author, dream expert, speaker, TV/radio host/producer, and was featured on Dr. Oz and The Doctors. For more visit www.KathleenOkeefeKanavos.com.
Resources: (1) https://www.businessinsider.com/suicide-is-now-the-number-one-cause-of-injury-related-death-in-the-us-2012-9 (2) Validity and reliability of trends in suicide statistics https://europepmc.org/article/med/6678086 (3) DeepakChopra.com https://www.deepakchopra.com/blog/article/6383?sso_code=eyJpdiI6IkdPXC81ck9LVVpNaFpnYm81ZE95VFBRPT0iLCJ2YWx1ZSI6IkVqNXdlOTVaZEZNSTR0djZ0RStsdExLbWdvaHFQRDBrckUxXC9UWis2TEhWekFwMWZ3RTFRUUhYd1RnMVN0bkMyUTVvdjdPS0VQdENmaTdOV3FNNG5FbjduU0RCbGprVmdHUW5JK3lEM0JaMD0iLCJtYWMiOiI5N2QzNGM3MjI3MjAyZTIwZmU5NWVmYzQ4MDhhNGUxM2E5MzhhZTViZjRjOGY2MjRkZTZjM2U2NzQzYTQwNTgyIn0%3D (4) Suicide https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml
Bear with
each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against
someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.~Colossians
3:13
When someone uses a
tragedy to make them stronger and even happier – we want to know what inspired
them to get to that place.
Teresa Velardi “sold her soul for a wedding ring,” and
then had to flee her abusive marriage to save herself and her child. Anrita
Melchizedek’s children were abducted by her ex-husband and taken to another
country beyond her physical and legal reach. Helen Brennand lost her infant son,
whose loving still-born body language told her to “listen to your heart.”
The love between a mother and child is one of
the strongest bonds in the world.
What do these empowering women who moved from chaos
to clarity all have in common? They possess a strong belief in God, believe in the
power of prayer, and embraced the power of forgiveness to overcome anger, hate,
fear, and grief. Their pain and anxiety transformed into clarity. Their transformational story became a guiding
light for other women.
“Change is a labor pain through which we can
give birth to a new self
and life, which makes the pain meaningful and
justified.”Dr. Bernie Siegel
Change is frightening. Yet, it is a natural process
for a new order and clarity. Few people manage to go through life without
experiencing the physical pain of illness or emotional pain of a lost loved
one, but it’s how we deal with that pain that makes the difference.
No matter how deeply it is challenged, love
never dies.
During the interview posted below for your listening
pleasure, the stories shared by Teresa, Anrita, and Helen tell how they moved
beyond Chaos to Clarity through Forgiveness, Love, and trust in their Higher
Power.
Sometimes forgiveness is easier said than
done.
Anrita speaks of her Parent-Energy that emerged from
the Heart of Love. It was from this place of respect that Anrita helped her
children work through their anger and abandonment issues after they were
finally returned to her. Her children did not know they had been stolen by
their father. They believed they were unwanted by their mother. Their years of
separation created deep resentment.
Teresa had to get her level of fear under control after her husband held a knife to her throat and threaten to kill her. After her divorce, she came to a place of forgiveness. Teresa called her ex-husband and said, “I just want to let you know that whatever I did to keep you in your addiction, please forgive me. And know that despite all you did to hurt me, I forgive you.” Teresa says she meant it then and still means it now. “I was coming from a place of forgiveness and it lifted me up and made me whole.”
When Helen was told she was going to be giving birth
to a still-born child, she felt defeat, shamed and punished. Her turning point
to moving beyond the shame and grief was when she saw his tiny body and his perfect
finger was pointing to his ear while the other perfect hand rested on his
heart. This body language erased her shame because Helen felt her son was
telling her to “Listen to your heart.”
So what was the final lesson all three women learned
to move past their feeling of blame, shame, anger, and chaos? Forgiveness!
Forgiveness was the answer to their fear, rage,
and grief.
Forgiveness moved all three women to a higher power.
By detaching themselves from negative emotions through the power of forgiveness,
they were able to move forward into a loving future, and eventually, help other
women in need.
To everything there is a season; And a time to every
purpose under the sun; A time to get and a time to
lose;
A time to keep and a time to cast away;
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Sometimes by helping others, we help ourselves. When we are in deep despair shifting our focus to others is a way to assist ourselves.
As the Bible tells us,
help your neighbor find what they have lost. God never punishes you by taking
things from you. God is a healing resource through faith.
God
commands that we forgive others and extend grace as we have been shown grace.
It can be one of the hardest things we face in life. The pain and hurt others
cause us is real and great. But, the pain of living with bitterness and un-forgiveness
can poison and destroy us. When we forgive others, we are not saying what they
did was acceptable. We are releasing them to God and letting go of pain’s hold
on us, just as Anrita, Teresa, and Helen did.
Please meet my amazing
guests.
Helen
Brennand is the
author of the book Belief. She is an equine professional based in England, an accomplished
rider, trainer, and holistic therapist. Helen has a passion for horse welfare
and respects them as sentient beings. Complementing her writing, Helen’s time
is now dedicated to her horse sanctuary, The Haven, founded to ensure a lasting
and safe place where a horse’s inner wisdom is free to be released and allowed
to shine. belief444.com
Anrita
Melchizedek was born with
many of her ESP gifts already activated and in communication with the Company
of Heaven. As a Soul Reader, Master Healer, and Light Weaver, Anrita sees the
Light codes of potentiality within energy fields and draws from these Light
codes and blueprints when assisting in the healings of others.
voicesofthelighttribe.
com and pleiadianlight.net
Teresa
Velardi is an author,
speaker, publisher, and potter. Committed to making a difference in the lives
of others, she uses her gifts to help people get their stories told in books. teresavelardi.com
Join these three women as they take you on a
true-story-journey you will NEVER forget.
Bio: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos: aka The Queen of
Dreams Syndicated Columnist, PR Guru, VIDEO Podcaster/Radio Show Host Dreaming Healing, 3-time Breast Cancer
Survivor, multi-award-winning author, and Dream Expert seen on Dr. Oz, DOCTORS, NBC, & CBS. Divine
Dreams diagnose her illness. Kat and Duke U
Radiologist Dr. Larry Burk co-wrote, (2018
Nautilus Award Winner) Dreams That
Can Save Your Life. She’s an Author/Lecturer Keynote who promotes patient
advocacy and connecting with Divine-guidance through Dreams. “Don’t tell God
how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is.” Learn more
@ www.KathleenOKeefeKanavos.com
Grant, Lyndia. “Clear out the Personal Clutter in
Preparation for a New Year.” The Charlotte Post, vol. 40, no. 17, Charlotte
Post Publishing Co., 31 Dec. 2014, p. 1B.
Never marry the one you can live with, marry the one you cannot live without.~unknown
Dr. Joan Chadbourne’s story proves that we are never too old to fall in love. Cupid shot her and her future husband Chad through the heart in a coffee shop. Joan was 72, and Chad was 69 years young. Love is not only blind; it cannot count.
However, age cannot save us from ourselves. Sometimes the most significant deterrent we must face is one that is impossible to avoid-ourselves. Joan’s story is about how she got out of her own way in order to embrace love.
I read Joan’s fantastic love story in the book Chaos to Clarity: Sacred Stories of Transformational Change and immediately invited her to be a guest on my Video Podcast The Kat Kanavos Show.
The lesson I took away from her story was how Joan learned how important it is to not self-sabotage when it comes to positive change in her life. Change at any age can be frightening. However, as we become older and set in our ways, an excuse not to embrace change can become a phobia.
Transformational change can make room for love to grow in our hearts.
When years of life and experience have made us self-sufficient and independent, we must make room for love because we have learned to plug all the holes in our lives with “emotional stuff” including excuses.
Joan’s love story begins with, “We had met through an online dating service and were texting to each other like teenagers the night before our first meeting scheduled at a coffee shop. I didn’t sleep a wink after our chat because it felt like someone or something was rocking me in the bed. The next day when I walked into the coffee shop and saw Chad, I started to hyperventilate. It was so loud the people drinking coffee turned in their seats to see what was wrong with me. I was embarrassed. Then when he hugged me hello, I tried to talk but nothing came out of my mouth. Unbeknownst to me, Chad had survived cancer but had lost his ability to speak or eat, so he typed in his synthesizer, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll carry the conversation.’ I laughed and told him that I had not slept at all after our texting session and why. He typed, ‘That was because I imagined holding and rocking you in my arms.’ I knew then that we had been communicating telepathically.”
What was to be a short meet-and-greet turned into a five-hour-long date.
Joan and Chad made plans to meet again, but soon Joan’s doubt and self-sabotage reared its ugly head and almost destroyed their budding love.
“After I got home and had time to think, I began to talk myself out of the relationship. I was independent, had always been independent, and didn’t want to share my life with anyone for the first time at my age. I didn’t need it. Even in my first marriage, we had lived in separate parts of the house. We even had our own kitchens. Why would I want to share a life now? Was Chad crazy? Was I crazy?” Joan exclaimed. “I sat down and wrote Chad a five-page letter listing all the reasons why I didn’t think our relationship would work, beginning with the fact that we lived 600 miles apart. Chad wrote back and said he saw no reason for us to meet again.”
Joan had initiated the break, yet she lamented over Chad’s response.
“I prayed and prayed for guidance. Then I got out of my own way and embraced the changes necessary to open my heart to Chad’s love. One of the first things I did was realize my reluctance to love was not about Chad. It was about me!”
During the interview, Joan details some of the steps she took to overcome self-sabotage so she could move forward and embrace Chad’s love.
If you would like to know more about this beautiful love story CLICK the interview link below and watch Joan Chadbourne talk about sharing her life with Chad in the twilight years of their lives, and how love never dies.
Dr. Joan Chadbourne, EdD is an author, coach, facilitator, and speaker who lives what she writes. Joan has a doctorate in Counseling Psychology from UMass. She is a contributing author in Chaos to Clarity: Sacred Stories of Transformational Change has co-authored the book Healing Conversations Now and published articles on relationships, positive aging, strength-based change, and intuition. www.joanchad.com and www.healingconversationsnow.com
Bio: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos: aka The Queen of Dreams Syndicated Columnist, PR Guru, VIDEO Podcaster/Radio Show Host Dreaming Healing, 3-time Breast Cancer Survivor, multi-award-winning author, and Dream Expert seen on Dr. Oz, DOCTORS, NBC, & CBS. Divine Dreams diagnose her illness. Kat and Duke U Radiologist Dr. Larry Burk co-wrote (2018 Nautilus Award Winner) Dreams That Can Save Your Life. She’s an Author/Lecturer Keynote who promotes patient advocacy and connecting with Divine-guidance through Dreams. “Don’t tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is.” Learn more @ www.KathleenOKeefeKanavos.com
Photo Credit: All posters are the property of author Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos
