Seeing Death

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Shaheen Miro

You are spirit, the accumulation of intention, dreams, and creativity. You are in a state of constant flux, revolving and circulating around one giant sphere of the Divine. Nothing is truly static. If you aren’t changing, then you are battling the Universe.

Death is beautiful. It is the ultimate poetry of life. You die to the setting sun, to be reborn at tomorrow’s light. You die to every moment. You die every year, as you grow older and wiser. You die at the ending of every project, and you are reborn at the beginning of every new one.

Life is a dance of change and transformation. The affirmation of your spirit is metamorphosis. You are a being of light that radiates, pulsates, and undulates. If you lose the essence of your spirit, then you’ve lost the point of life.

People grow stagnant. Their spirits become gnarled and weakened. If you unplug from source then you slowly fade away, until you are a shell mimicking life. We fear death because we fear what we can be. We know the reality, but we forget the dream.

Death has been very present in my life the past year. I’ve lost many beautiful lights whom I loved greatly for their bravery, wisdom and unconditional love. I grieve for the loss of their relatable presence in my life. I grieve for their smile. I grieve for their conversation. But through my grief I realize that they are at peace. They are burning stars in the never-ending disco.

Death isn’t easy. It jars you. It pulls you out of your shell. You are forced to step beyond your comfort zone. You are left dancing in the dark. Traversing beyond what you know as the truth. But there is the beauty. You’ll never grow unless you’ve experienced.

The truth is that you’ve never really seen a painting until you’ve looked at it from all angles. Stand on your head; see it in a mirror, stair from one side to the other. Life is art. Explore art don’t admire it!

When I see the Death card in the Tarot, it usually means that you are in a state of change. The tune is changing, and you’ll need to find a new groove. But the Tarot isn’t discerning. Tarot doesn’t tell you what you want to hear… It tells you what you need to hear. It doesn’t know the difference between a “metaphorical” death and a real one. It only knows that the energy is changing.

So can the Tarot show a real death? Yes! Absolutely it can. I’ve seen it many times. I’ve experienced it personally with the loss of my own loved ones. It’s doesn’t have to be frightening. It serves to enlighten you.

Tarot predicts death. Death isn’t bad. It’s not a warning. It’s a reminder that you are living.

The Poetry of Death

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Shaheen Miro

Death is a reminder to us that everything is in constant motion; an endless dance that moves us from one phase to the next. Passing through doors you remain a part of the changeless change. As a caterpillar dies to the beauty of a butterfly, so does our soul here on earth shed it shell to fly with something a little more spectacular, brilliant and gleaming. Death is the teacher, the keeper and the lover. Death gives us the gift of living… if only we see it before our time.

Fire Light

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Shaheen Miro

Owner, Dudva.

We came here faithful and wild eyed. Looking for answers as the smoke made rings around their heads. They were forgotten angels, forged in the heat and pressure of another storm. Beyond your memory is hidden a history far greater than can be told in words.

I lit a candle, burned it for 3 days to heal the pain. The color was liquid red and hot like the sweat that ran down your face as I was leaving. You were begging for change, and yet I had changed long before you knew. Why do they forsake the ones they love?

So they sing. They sing as the dark falls around them. A gentle cloak of raven black. There you can hear the words being whispered to silhouettes of strangers. Faces of marionettes suspended from memories. Make me up how you want to. Make them believe I was nothing and you were everything.

He wanted badly to touch the heart of the mystery. A dangerous soul who would rage against the gods. Fire could rain down. Prayers couldn’t protect him. There’s not map to guide you as you slip away into your own misery. Mock them as you run. They will taunt you. We can still pray… even though prayers are useless now.

If I can wake up and breathe again. Does that mean none of it was real? I might just be another memory. She said the white doves are calling to us now. We can walk on the edge of what was, and what will be. We can dance with the dead to feel alive again. There’s no shame in burning a candle… even if it can’t drown out the night.

I whisper one more time before its over. I touch my lips gently to the flame. Kissing the fire. Another form of passing. Wind catches light and pushes it into oblivion. A fragile soul is lost to the dark again. Snuffed out. No more light. No more life. I hope the prayers still burn brightly on the other side.

Book Review: Straw Into Gold

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Shaheen Miro

Straw Into Gold is interesting, painful and inspiring . A mixture of misfortune and blessing, one woman’s life becomes a lesson for us all to see our pain as a teacher. Diane LaRae Bodach’s terminal illness created a pathway for her to find her own spirit; she relays the most intimate facets of her journey here.

Diane is unapologetic and witty, she tells her stories with such candor and grace, that makes you feel as though you are face to face with her as you read. Every page is filled with something enlightening that makes you see your spirit and your shadow. This book will change the way you see everything in life, especially illness.

A very heavy read, densely filled with spiritual insight and personal anecdotes. I applaud Diane LaRae Bodach for her bravery and determination, not only to live, but also to put her journey down in words. If you have dealt with illness, directly or indirectly, this book is for you.

Having dealt with illness and loss in my own life, I realize that it equalizes and alchemizes. If you go deeper into your pain, your loss or your grief you will be lead to a space where mind, body and spirit connect. I felt the author said it best,” Illness, loss or deprivation helps us to focus on our main job: to be.” Learning to just be gives you a sense of unparalleled awareness.

Straw Into Gold urges you to not only be aware, but to know your body, your pain and your breaking point. Know what to feed and what to avoid. If you’re giving energy away to unnecessary things, then you are using up valuable, life sustaining fuel. Bodach’s sobering realization about her illness gave her the impetus to push forward, “I wasn’t going to have the life I wanted or expected to have, and at first that seemed like Death-it was like death. Almost all that I knew life to be was no longer possible for me. Most of my identities were gone, deeply diminished, or threatened. What was left seemed very stark, very small; but the very starkness, the very smallness was a spiritual opening for me.”

Straw Into Gold is blooming with poignant moments filled with wisdom and insight. Though Diane never recovered form her illness, you gather that she lived a full life. No matter how heavy of a read this is, by the end of the book you are filled with a sense of gratitude and compassion. Let Diane’s story become a doorway for your own enlightenment.

You can purchase your copy here and here.

Shaheen Miro is an intuitive reader, Reiki practitioner, fashion design student, artist and writer. Contact: 937.213.3426 / shaheen@shaheenmiroinsights.com /

The Will to Change

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Shaheen Miro

I stepped into the darkened parlor, only a candle illuminated the room from the piano in the corner. A sound like a clock ticking trailed off in the distance. Each tic coincided with the beat of my heart. I moved deeper into the shadows trying to unfold the mystery that lingered, invisible in the air.

I touched the cool wood of the table and felt the soft velvet that covered the sofa. My senses were tingling with anticipation. I felt faint, almost out of breath, I felt as if I had been battered by the tenacious waves of the ocean. Something was coming over me.

I was met by a vision; something loomed heavy in the corner. I knew that there was a messenger here. He had come for me to impart his wisdom. “Show yourself!” I protested. But nothing came from the darkness.

Catching my breath, I sat on the sofa. I pulled the warm air into my lungs and let the scent of musk and roses fill me. There was something different here. Something I had never felt before. Or maybe I was never open to its mystery.

Suddenly it came to me. The figure appeared like a bead of light moving through a dark sky. It was the spirit of change. Some may call it death, others may call it life, but I simply call it change.

The figure held out its hand. I could only make out the slight structure… tall, thin, and able. I felt with every fiber of my being that it was time. Time to let go of the worn-out and the old. Time to move into the future, fearless and alive. I knew it wasn’t the end, but actually the beginning.

Loud and clear I heard from within the body of light, “Dance! The secret of life is to dance!”… and then the light receded back into shadows like the dying embers of a fire. Darkness absorbed all traces of light until only I was left, with this vision and this message to carry on in my head.

I closed my eyes. Startled. Moved. Changed. I knew that everything would be okay.

Dancing With Freedom, As Death Dances Away

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Shaheen Miro

The night has grown around me, dark, velvet and gentle and with it comes a graceful coolness that subtly creeps into the hollow parts of me… reminding me of what has been lost. In my life I have seen dark things, dangerous things, things that have cut me so deep that not even time can take their sting away. And yet I’ve danced with so much passion and beauty that I often wonder what can come to rival what’s been before.

I sit here and I am reminded of the beautiful lights that I’ve lost along the way. The ones, who’ve touched me, loved me… who have felt me in the deepest, most tender places of my heart and soul. Many hands have held my own, but very few have really lived in my world. So as their lives have faded away I try to keep alive the memories of the love they’ve given to me.

On a lonely night in July I pass through memories by candlelight. Faces that I’ve missed in my life, voices I will never hear again and the warm feeling of fur brushing against my sullen face. I try to close my eyes and reach with all my sense the feelings of being with them. But only the faintest of feelings can be experienced now. Its not as if real life can be recreated in pictures and memories… our thoughts can work backwards but they will never truly turn back time.

I myself have spoken to spirits… I have whispered to shadows… but I’ve never walked the time line back to a place where I could rekindle the connects which I’ve so desperately longed for. They are shinning stars too far from my reach too touch, but close enough that I still see them. And in that vast universe of possibilities I will hold them like precious gems… cherished forever.

I know that no matter how much it hurts that all of my angels are by my side. They stand tall with me and my tears become the sea and the boat of my dream floats gently with their guiding winds. There is nothing to fear no matter how alone I am. I look into the water and there next to my reflection are all those who have ever loved me. So I hug myself tight, trying hard once again to soak up that ephemeral memory… knowing that at some point it will come again… no matter how different it may be.

To these feelings I assign two cards: The Death card and the 6 of swords.

Death, which is the keeper of change and the dance of the universe. Death is the one who reminds us to find our feet in the dark and just give into the sway, the grind, the wild twirl of everything that is. Death heralds change… but change is not destructive its alchemical.

The 6 of swords is the card that shows us the wisdom in contemplation, mediation and just drifting away. Those whom we love and have loved will come and go. Some will leave intentionally and others unexpected, but its all part of the beat that we are dancing to. If you were to veil your face in black lace, step onto a candle lit boat and glide effortlessly into the foggy sea you would find the meaning of this card. It is here in this silent place, where everything moves with the tides and the moon, that we find what really lives in our souls.

Don’t forget those whom you have touched and who have touched you… remember we are all lights trying to lift the darkness. There is nothing that has to separate you… not color, gender, race or religion. Rely less on form and more on feeling… when we live through are spirit we truly find our way.

To the gypsies,

Shaheen

Monthly Tarot Card: Death March 19, 2011

Posted on March 19, 2011 by Shaheen Miro

Death is the traditionally the 13^th card in the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck. This is one of the most feared and misunderstood cards of the deck and I often hear people say, “God I hope I don’t get the death card!” because it terrifies them. I am here to tell you that the Death card is one of the most magical, brilliant and truly spiritual cards of the Tarot.

First let me say that this card would be more appropriately titled “Transformation”. If this card is pulled it is more likely speaking of a metamorphosis, rather than a physical death. Many people fear the idea of death because they fear loss, but death is actually a strangely intimate and wise creature. Death allows us to be reborn and renewed.

Whenever I think of this card, I instantly think of the metamorphosis of a butterfly. How it changes from a less than beautiful caterpillar to something gorgeous and ephemeral. Think of yourself in this same way. It’s much easier to ride the waves of change than to fight them, and in the end there is always a treasure to be cherished.

With the card of death always comes a lesson. You have completed one phase of learning and you are now entering another. I feel that if the death card comes up you have triumphed over something difficult and it’s now time to rejoice. But death may also council you to befriend your fears before they get the better of you.

To understand this card you must take to heart the simple truths of death itself. Death has no bias, it has no favorites; death is simply a law that energy must abide by. The truth is nothing can ever be destroyed, so you have to think of death as a gatekeeper of sorts or the doorway itself.

If you get this card then you are in an extremely powerful place of change, where energies are being shifted and transmuted. This card may herald new beginnings in your life physically, mentally or spiritually. Be ready for these shifts and embrace them.

There is nothing frightening about death; from it stems a new phase of consciousness. Be open to transformation. As you transform the old, worn-out and tired parts of you are reborn into something new.

Affirmation: “I move with the cycles of divine transformation. Each change leaves me reborn; radiant and empowered.”

Reflections: What part of your life is in need of change? What parts of yourself would you like to transform?

Shaheen Miro

Tag Archives: Death