A Priest and a Medium
Several months ago I was doing a group reading for six people on a warm spring evening when one of the attendees shared that they were a priest. Of course this was new information - I rarely know anything about my clients before they work with me. Because of what I had perceived about this person, it warranted them sharing this with the group. A quiet fell over the room as we all took in the significance of this spiritual leader who had opened to mediumship and was being seen so deeply.
They (I’m using they/them pronouns to honor their privacy) felt powerfully connected to the experience and proceeded to join my coaching program. Each month as we have sat together in my office, we have experienced a wonderful, profound unfolding journey of perspective, healing and discovery.
At the end of our most recent session, there was a quiet pause as we were moved to talk about how we could invite additional and diverse spiritual leaders to gather, support and inspire each other and the people we serve. Neither of us quite know what that looks like yet, but there was a tangible potency to the conversation. The room suddenly felt charged with energy, like a palpable invitation waiting to be brought into form.
This feeling immediately transported me back to when I was starting my sustainable fashion company. A few of us new and emerging brands who were focused on incorporating sustainability practices into our organizations formed a group we named the “Sustainable Design Alliance.” We partnered with The Natural Step, a non-profit with a robust sustainability framework. The alliance members supported each other as we were building our businesses in a different way than had traditionally been done in our respective industries. The process forged relationships that strengthened each of us individually and collectively led to great things. One of which was a 2008 documentary film, "A Passion for Sustainability" highlighting the sustainability movement in Portland, Oregon. Mine was one of 14 featured companies including Nike, OMSI, Gerding Edlen and others. Here is the segment on my company from the film:
I didn’t grow up with a religion. My South African Russian Jewish dad was hungry to be far from structured social systems after growing up in the grip of Apartheid (pronounced in my family: apart-hate.) He was a bit of a happily rebellious young person, needing to carve his own way through the world. He used the ancient Chinese I Ching, or Book of Changes for several years. As a young girl, this was my first introduction to the concept of an oracle or divine influence in the form of prompted actions and the wisdom of a spiritual book. My mom was born in California and as a child regularly attended a church with her family that is now called "Center for Spiritual Living" - a New Thought Church in the vein of Unity and Unitarian. These organizations take an inter-religious approach to spirituality. As a teen I attended Unity Church with a close friend’s family and would look forward to their semi-annual Youth of Unity regional retreats. That group of people and the structure of those gatherings helped me experience a deep sense of community, unconditional love and support, agency and fun in a way I have always appreciated.
Both my parents were (and still are) devout creatives, communing with the divine through their love of nature and art in many forms. My mom is an award-winning watercolor painter and musician who worked in the tech field for many years as a web application developer for the City of Portland designing access to data for the 9-1-1 center. My dad was an exhibit design engineer at OMSI for many years, and is a talented painter and sculptor. Both are creative thinkers and open to exploring ideas big and small. Growing up with that open approach to understanding the world has helped me find my way into many areas of my life, including mediumship.
I love that I get to work with many different people that have varying belief systems and that the healing energy of spirit connection can expand beyond the limitations of structured belief systems. All people possess the ability to reach across barriers to understand in our own way what someone from a different background, culture or religion might be communicating. My mom shared that when she was little and was trying to understand the concept of God that her dad said she just needed to add another “o” and it would make sense: “Good.” I think we can lift ourselves up to see that we are all a lot more alike than we are different and that the “good” in each of our hearts is what drives us forward toward healing and thriving within ourselves and our communities.
I’m hopeful that with the potency I felt in my conversation with the priest that day, there might be some momentum and energy behind the concept of coming together across belief systems; that something we couldn’t have foreseen individually might have the opportunity to be nurtured and to grow.
So here is an invitation: Are you a spiritual leader? Do you know one? If so, do you feel drawn to exploring the idea of a new kind of connection, inspiration and support that transcends our respective structures of spiritual connection? Please reach out or share this post if you feel your heart resonating with this idea. I’d love to hear from you.
I’ll close this part with a heartfelt thank you to the priest who bravely opened their heart to receive through a different platform of spiritual connection, and to all who trust me and the unique medicine I am so honored and amazed to be able to provide.
Now for a final note.
I have been asked for many years to teach the energy healing process that I practice in my work. Because I have been taught to do this while in session, being shown what to do by my spirit team and my client’s spirit teams, it hadn’t yet been clear to me how to help facilitate others to learn. I have been feeling a growing pull to teach this and as I was putting together my upcoming fall retreat, I got a big and clear message that it is time. So I am FINALLY providing this long awaited offering to the community at my next retreat!
NOVEMBER 9-11 in Hood River, OR we will gather for a powerful, community focused fun, depth filled experience at my next Spirit Rejuvenation Retreat! Learn, play, practice, heal, love and be loved!
Registration opens this Friday August 2nd! Register by 08/08 and receive your special discount of $88.88!!