The Universe sends us messages in the form of signs and symbols daily. In reading and interpreting these messages, we gain the ability to communicate directly with the divine and receive feedback and guidance on our spiritual path.

Anything can be a message, including ordinary, everyday events like a lightbulb burning out or a pain in our body. Our cars, homes, people, and nature can hold messages. Even overhearing a snippet of conversation or turning on the radio to a line from a song can be a message.

While it’s true that anything can be a message, not everything is a message. If that were true, we would be overwhelmed by information. So, how do we know when to pay attention?

Here are three ways the Universe helps us discern the important messages:

1) Repetition. One lightbulb burning out is probably just a lightbulb burning out. But five lightbulbs burning out within a week in different light fixtures throughout the house may be a message that we’re keeping ourselves in the dark about something. 

Sometimes the Universe uses a variety of messengers to deliver the message, but the underlying meaning remains the same. For example, three seemingly random happenings within a short span of time – a wheel almost coming off the car, an inner ear infection, and a trip to the chiropractor for back problems – may all be pointing to the need for balance.

2) Energy. The energy will also help us determine whether or not it’s a message. A kinesthetic sense in our body such as goosebumps or the hair on the back of our neck standing up may also alert us to pay attention. Some messages arrive carrying so much energy they’re impossible to ignore – such as when we’re woken out of a sound sleep to go look out the window to see a possum digging in the earth. Other times we might feel a “zing” of energy when we receive a message and realize it’s an answer to a query we’ve been posing to the Universe.

Some messages take the form of what Robert Moss calls “waking dreams” – those unusual happenings that feel so odd while they’re occurring that we know they must be a message. If we feel like something is a message, it probably is.

3) Interaction. When the circumstance somehow interacts with us, that’s another clue to a message. Sometimes this happens through timing – such as posing a question while waiting at a stoplight, then looking up and seeing the answer on a bumper sticker. The immediate response can signal a message.

Sometimes the messenger itself engages us directly. Imagine driving down a country lane. A hawk with a snake in its talons flying in front of the car may or may not be a message. But a hawk who flies in front of the car and then turns to look directly into your eyes probably carries a message for you.

The Universe wants us to see and understand, so it uses these methods to highlight the message. Once we receive the message and acknowledge it, then the Universe moves on and communicates with us about something else.

How about you? Do you have any stories or examples of times when the Universe used repetition, energy or interaction to make sure you received a message?

A four-hour class on the basics of “Reading Signs & Messages” will be held Sunday, October 3, 2010, at a private home outside of Prairie du Sac, WI. For more information, email debramorrill@yahoo.com or call 608-279-4319.