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Mellissa Name Article - HeartWisdom.net
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Mellissa: My Spirit Name Copyright
Mellissa Seaman 2003 All Rights Reserved I always liked the name my parents
gave me. Laura Kathleen
O’Neill had such beautiful Irish-lass ring to it!
And then as I grew older, Laurie seemed to fit better than Laura.
In fact, people started calling me Laurie all the time even before
I decided I really liked it better than Laura.
But whatever the case, I was Laurie O’Neill and it fit.
For many years, it fit. Then I got hitched to
a Seaman. No, not a sailor.
I mean a man whose last name is Seaman.
Yes, his last name made me chuckle at first like a sixth-grade
pervert, but it also had a certain distinguished ring.
You can’t go wrong with the “Sea” - the beloved divine Ocean
- in a name. And it’s fun
to see the almost imperceptible wiggle of scandal and doubt that passes
over someone’s face when I say my name for the first time.
“Seaman.” If they
seem casual enough, I might say, “It’s spelled
S-E-A-M-A-N….(pause)… Thank
God,” and usually they laugh with that uncomfortable social chuckle.
Anyway, I’m kind of a small talk sadist who enjoys the thrill of
putting people into those sorts of social-gaff tight-spots.
So Seaman is a very fun last name.
But now here I am, changing my first name from Laurie to Mellissa.
Shades of “Moonbeam” and “Sunkisser” and “Wolfdancer”
come to mind, and I am struck with the fear that I will be seen as yet
another self-absorbed “new-ager” with nothing better to do than to
think up cute names for myself so as to pass myself off as more deep, more
spiritual, more open-minded and ecological than everybody else.
I always resented those people.
And now I AM “those people.” Mellissa is my Spirit
name. The first time God
called my name, the Voice said “Mellissa.”
I was about seven years old or so, and I was at church camp in the
woods near Julian, California. I
was alone in a beautiful meadow, traipsing down the path to the little
frog pond. I felt great. I remember there was a “wind” that moved everything
–except the wind or the trees. It
was a movement of delicious warm energy that rushed through and around me.
I knew immediately this was the Holy Spirit.
There was no doubt. It
was the essence of Love, the essence of Home, the essence of Peace and
Understanding and Grace. It
was God! I stopped still in
my tracks, and I remember putting my arms out like I’d seen some people
do in church, in a receptive open gesture.
I remember feeling the warmth of this “wind” without wind
around me, moving my hands through the air, feeling God.
I remember the too-wide smile on my face – the kind of smile that
almost hurts from the extension of my cheeks.
I was ecstatic. I heard God say my name.
He said my name -- but it wasn’t Laura.
It was Mellissa. I
immediately translated it to Laura in my head, because it was such a
confusing thing to happen in such an awesome moment, but Mellissa stuck in
my mind. I had often coveted
the name Mellissa in childhood. I
called dolls Mellissa. I made
friends with a girl at school because her name was Mellissa.
Standing in the meadow, I wondered why God used this favorite name
to call me instead of my “real” name, Laura.
But it didn’t matter, because God had my attention.
I asked God if there was something I should know, something He came
to tell me. “Love. Just
Love.” The message came
directly into my mind along with another big gust of “wind.”
And I knew God was giving me the direction for everything.
I knew that all I had to do was Love, and everything would be
terrific. After that message, I felt the completion of the experience
and I felt the wind slip away, but always to live within me.
I knew I never had to feel alone after that.
God was, and would be, with me and in me.
Always. I didn’t really
give another thought to that name “Mellissa” until the day Mark and I
conceived our daughter Clarise. Actually,
it was the MOMENT we conceived Clarise.
In the midst of my magical moment of rapture, I heard a hissing
beautiful voice whisper “Mellissa.”
It was so strong, I asked Mark if I had said it out loud!
Then I laid there, feeling the conception power in my body, having
a strong feeling I was pregnant. I
assumed that this child must be Mellissa.
Aha! Maybe that’s
why I always liked the name! I
was supposed to name my daughter Mellissa!
Yes! Mystery solved! No.
Mystery not solved. We
did assume for a while that Clarise would be named Mellissa, but somehow
it just didn’t fit. It didn’t seem right.
And then, I was given a vision.
By this time, I was really awakening psychically, and I was getting
visions more and more often. And
they were always “true.” They
always held an important message or truth within them, not necessarily
telling the future or something linear like that.
But my visions brought messages and wisdom.
But by this time, I had come to the realization that my visions
were real Visions, and not just daydreams or such.
Anyway, in this pivotal Vision, God called me Mellissa again. He/she brought be back to that day in the meadow, and showed
me that this was MY name, not my daughter’s.
Whoa. I came out of
the vision sobbing, weeping, with great release and abandon. It helped me see that my current spiritual path is not
different than the one I’ve been on all my life.
It clarified for me that my main objective remains the same.
“Love. Just Love.”
I’m doing the same job I’ve always done, and I am the same
spiritual child of God that I’ve always been.
And my name is Mellissa. For the past three
years or so, I’ve secretly been Mellissa when I do my spiritual work.
God calls me Mellissa. My
Spirit Guides and Angels call me Mellissa.
When I am working with other shamanic people, they call me
Mellissa. But in the world,
I’ve remained Laurie. After
all, Laurie is a great name – I love the name Laurie!
But it has had me split in two.
There’s the “normal” Laurie life, and the strange spiritual
Mellissa. The fact is, I AM
the strange spiritual Mellissa. The
“normal” Laurie is the mask I wear so people don’t think I’m a
freak. Well, it is time to
unify myself. God’s been
recommending this for a while, and I know the time is right.
I feel the Calling to fully accept my ministry and my individual
identity. I choose now to
accept the name Mellissa – not just in my spiritual practice – but in
my Life. Because I want my
Life to be my spiritual practice. I
want to speak my Truth in all things.
I want to shine my inner light outward, to be my Self.
I want to be God’s helpmate in all things, not just when I have
my shaman/healer hat on. It
is time. I have released much
of my fear of what others think about me.
I have released my dependence on the past, on my past achievements.
I have forgiven myself for mistakes – seeing them as valuable
lessons I’ve learned. And I
am ready to continue forward on this beautiful path that God unveils for
me each and every day. I
am ready to share my true heart, my true identity, with you.
I am ready to show you all who I am.
I am Mellissa Seaman.
I am the same one you knew as Laurie, but now you get to see all of
me. You get to see my Truth.
You get to see my gifts.
You get to share in my commitment to continue on my spiritual path,
led by the Spirit. My
commitment in offering this is all symbolized by this name change.
Hi. My name is
Mellissa. I am I. *********************** Mellissa Seaman is a co-founder of San Diego Circle and founder of Heart Wisdom and Divine Ravishment. She provides profound energetic healing sessions, teaches workshops, leads rituals, and writes articles on spiritual awakening, healing, and sacred living. Reach Mellissa at info@heartwisdom.net. click here to read more about Mellissa click here to see more articles written by Mellissa
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