With Halloween just around the corner, I thought this would be a “fun” & “fitting” topic.

Halloween decorations are loaded with cobwebs and spider webs.  They cover pumpkins and dangle from witches hats.  You may even have to walk through them as you enter a room or battle your way through a haunted house.  They cling to you and get stuck to your clothes and attach to your hair.  Boy can they be annoying and creepy!

Halloween also delves into the world of lost souls – a world of ghosts and the undead running around scaring people and seeking their happiness.  NOT something I am into.  I don’t like the scary side of Halloween and I steer clear of such darkness.  I’m all about the cute costumes, the happy children and of course, the candy.

And that leads us right into today’s topic.  I’m all about helping people find joy and happiness – the sweetness of life.  Yes, joy and happiness in life is just like happy little children wearing cute costumes, not to mention the sweetness of life like the sweetness found in Halloween candy – you just have to find your way past all of that “scary” stuff to enjoy it!

So what is all that scary stuff and how do we get past it?

Each one of us, at least at some point in our lives, is weighed down by energetic cobwebs.  They stick to us everywhere and get entangled in our thoughts and our bodies.  They cloud our judgment.  They cause apathy, anxiety or depression.  If left unchecked they lead to physical ailments as well.

Where do these cobwebs come from?  They come from our experiences.  Think of it like this, each time we have an experience a little spider is born.  That little spider creeps into our energy and starts weaving his web.  His web is built of negative thoughts, emotions, and deeply rooted belief systems we are hanging on to.  Every time we get angry or hurt the web gets bigger.  As we allow those feelings, those webs, to remain, they collect dust and get thicker and heavier.  They soon morph into soul killing cobwebs.

If we don’t take action to clean out these killer cobwebs and eliminate the spider that is making them, we run the risk of squashing our vibrant souls and leading a very unfulfilled and unhappy life.

That is SCARY!  We need to clean out those cobwebs and eliminate the spider!

So how do we do it?

Here are 5 steps to get you started on the path to a spider-free, cobweb-free, happy and joyful existence:

1.  Recognize you have unsupported and even destructive, subconsciously made-up stories that are not serving you, and discover the theme (these are contained in the spider’s web).

When you look at your stories you will find they have a theme.  It could be something like one of these:  People always let me down, I have to do it all myself.  I’m a loser.  I have nothing to offer.  People can’t be trusted.  I never measure up…  Identify the theme(s) of your stories.

2.  Discover the ancestral influence of your stories.

Do you have the same unsupportive story as one of your Parents?  Grandparents?  Uncles?  Aunts?  Cousins?  Spend some time meditating and/or inquiring of your Higher Power as to the origin of your stories.  Are they yours?  Or have you inherited them through your ancestral DNA?  Where did they come from?

3.  Discover how your stories play out.

Do you have a story that repeats itself?  Do you continue to have the same unfulfilling and negative experiences over and over?  Same story, different day?  Take note of how the overall theme of your story has repeated itself and how it affects you today.

4.  Create a change of heart and vaporize the killer cobwebs.

This step may take some time and some practice, but you can remove the cobwebs, the unsupportive stories, that are not serving you.  Know that your results will come in their own time – sometimes instantly, sometimes in a month or two or longer.  But do not be discouraged, THEY WILL COME!

To heal or change a pattern, theme or story that is not working, we have to change the emotional charge that is feeding that pattern.  To accomplish this we must do 2 things:

1.  Forgive ourselves or anyone else that has held us back

2.  See the situation from new perspective

Remember, no matter how bad or disruptive the story or pattern has been that created the awful cobwebs, it has served its purpose.  Anyone involved was a teacher and contributed to our advancement.  You may have perceived all of this as stumbling blocks along the way, but the experiences and people were actually stepping stones to get you where you want to be.

   Find a quiet place to sit and relax. Start by taking deep breaths.  When you feel relaxed, begin thinking of all of the things you discovered in steps one, two and three.  At the same time, imagine your heart opening up as if it were a flower blossoming.  As each petal opens, the feelings, emotions, and experiences you identified are released and they float up and away from your heart toward the heavens.

   As these thoughts reach the heavens, imagine them gathering on a cloud. If you are having trouble releasing them, just breathe a little deeper and trust your intention.

   Once you thoughts are all gathered on the clouds, feel your connection with your Higher Power and say: “I give great thanks for the vaporization of the unsupportive patterns I have discovered today” and feel gratitude toward your Higher Power for their help in manifesting the vaporization of the patterns.

   Bring to mind anyone (including yourself) that has held you back. Once again let any negative feelings toward that person flow out of your heart and up to the heavens to rest on the cloud.  Imagine them being vaporized by your Higher Power as they land on the cloud and embrace your feelings of gratitude.

   Now focus on the gift these people were in helping you to be the wonderful person you are today. Embrace the joy you feel for who you have become and the part these people have played to help you get there.

   Now it is time to forgive. Focus again on anyone related to the patterns that were holding you back or that created a disturbance in your world and tell them in your mind:

♦  I am now viewing all of this from a new perspective

♦  I recognize all of this has given me the strength and talents I would never have had without the pain of the past

♦  Thank you for being a part of my growing and learning

♦  I now let go of all the old patterns, pain, hurt and grievances so we can all move forward.

   Breathe deeply for a few minutes to release all negative energy.

You may need to repeat this process until you feel at peace and ready to move forward.  You will know when you are ready and you have vaporized your cobwebs.  You will feel lighter, happier and full of optimism, excitement and at peace with yourself.

5.  Create your new story.

Now that you have you cobwebs cleaned out, you need to remove the spider or he will just create new webs.  You do this by creating a new story.

Ask yourself: What is it that I want in my life now? Be specific.  The more specific you are the faster and easier it will manifest for you.

Feel your intention. Another way of saying this is Live as If.  You know what you want, you know what you want your story to be, so live as if it were already your story.

A negative web-weaving spider cannot live in a positive, joyful environment.  So change the lock!  Kick him out!  Your new story may still be in its infant stages, but that is ok.  You can still live or feel as if it were at the Happily Ever After stage – and that is what you must do.

As you roam around this Halloween and notice all the cobwebs decorating the houses in your neighborhood, let it be a reminder that you too have cobwebs and now you know how to get rid of them for good!

If you would like to get really good at this 5-step process, you can check it out in more detail in The DNA of Healing: A Five-Step Process for Total Wellness and Abundance by Margaret Ruby.

Happy Cleaning!