My Magical Process

​In 1994 my life changed forever.  I went from only dabbling in spiritual pursuits, to being a full-on student of an amazing White Witch.  I was 14 then, and attending a Christian High School where I didn't feel spiritually cultivated.  It wasn't that I didn't love Christ--because I did and I still do!  It was that I didn't feel like I could explore all the religious and spiritual paths the world had to offer.  And I was super curious!  Super curious about all of it--from Buddhism to Witchcraft and everything in between, I wanted to know MORE.  From a young age, anything spiritual or religious fascinated me.  I remember watching shows on Discovery channel about different religions and wanting to go to all of these far-off lands to immerse myself in their practices.  I was particularly intrigued by a special on Stonehenge and the Druids, and felt that I was destined to be involved in a similar path.  So when I met a White Witch who was giving a class on basic Witchcraft, I asked my parents if I could take it.  They met with the woman and agreed to let me take the class.  As I attended each class, hanging on every word of this beautiful grey-haired woman always dressed in flowing purple garments, I felt real MAGIC for the very first time.  Working with crystals and the elements made me feel truly alive.  
Fast forward to college and I finally had the opportunity to explore all the religions in which I had been interested.  I took as many classes as I could in the Religion department, and additional ones on Women's Studies and Paganism as they were offered.  During college I felt immensely drawn to Taoism and Buddhism and spent chunks of time devoted to practicing both.  Each time I worked within the tenants of a different religion I felt like I was activating something deep inside of myself that needed to be awakened.  I never felt like an particular religion was my end-all and be-all however, and I continued to explore other traditions even after finishing college.  I spun widely in the ecstatic practice of Sufism, reading Rumi everyday and learning how to twirl.  I spent years attending a Goddess Temple in Orange County where I learned how to honor and cherish my own feminine wisdom.  I took up a Tibetan Buddhist practice for awhile, immersed my self in Druidry, spent several years attending an Episcopalian Church (which I still attend on occasion), and then realized the power of Shamanism.  
In 2012, while leading a small woman's group doing transformation work based on the phases of the Moon, I heard the call to NOURISH OTHERS CONNECTION TO THE DIVINE-WEB-OF-ALL-REALITY.  It was then that I decided to go to Seminary.  I wasn't sure where that would take me, thinking at first I would be a Prison or Hospital Chaplain--but not feeling either were the right fit when I had the chance to do that work.  What I knew I wanted to do was write a book on spiritual practices and lead workshops for people like me.  People who didn't FIT into any one spiritual tradition.  I was led to be ordained as an Interfaith Minister and Chaplain--getting the proper training to provide spiritual care; and then set off to write my first book in my final year of Seminary:  Within the Sacred Circle:  An Interfaith Guide to Shamanic Tools and Rituals of Transformation.  During the creation of that book I taught workshops on connecting to a set of ritual objects and doing transformative work at the turning of the Seasons.
After graduating, I came face-to-face with my own mortality when I almost died of a kidney infection two weeks before getting married to the love of my life.  It was then that I discovered the ancient art of Alchemy.  As I made my way through 3 surgeries, I studied this arcane magical art and wrote a book on its main process.  Rounding out my training as I taught workshops on the subject--I discovered the work of the Psychologist C.G. Jung and my life was yet again forever changed.  This was the last important educational piece in my puzzle.  Someone before me had gone down all of the same roads and was also called to help others heal.  I then decided to go to Pacifica Graduate Institute to pursue my PhD in Depth Psychology and dive head first into the work of Jung.

​A BIT ABOUT JUNG:
" Carl Gustav Jung was born in Kesswil, Switzerland on July 26, 1875. He was the only son and eldest child, with one much younger sister. His father was a pastor in the Swiss Reformed Church, and his mother came from a family of clergymen. From the time of his early youth, Jung was captivated by his dreams and inner life. This led him to embark on a journey of self-discovery, in which he questioned the beliefs of the Protestant tradition in which he had been steeped. . . Though in his student years he was interested in religious thought, philosophy, and archaeology, he chose to pursue a degree in medicine. Upon his graduation from the University of Basel, Jung decided to specialize in psychiatry. . . Through the investigation of the contents of his own and his patients’ unconscious, and through a painstaking study of mythology, comparative religions, anthropology, and finally alchemy, Jung concluded that the current myth of our time does not meet the psychological needs of the individual. What is missing in our age of hyper-rationalism is the capacity to re-connect with our lost instinctual nature. He coined the term “individuation” for the inner process which propels each of us towards greater wholeness. This process is directed by the uniting archetype, the Self, which is, paradoxically enough, both the center and the entirety of the psyche. Jung reminded us that our own wholeness and the healing of the world soul, the anima mundi, are dependent upon each one of us developing a more conscious relationship with those unexplored or rejected parts of ourselves which lie hidden in the unconscious and which he termed the shadow." (https://www.junginla.org/institute/cgjung)

My own magical process now include ALL of these different pieces, woven together to create my WHOLE.  As you saw in my prior post, I work with a set of 16 Sacred Stones--based loosely on Druidic and Shamanic practices.  Each one of those stones is associated with an archetype.  Those archetypes are who guide my daily work and who I look towards for the expansion of my MULTIHOOD.  Through honoring the cardinal directions, the elements, and the archetypal energies with which I am aligned--I have created a personal practice that nourishes my mind, body, and spirit.  As I stated before, you do not need to believe in, or practice any of the spiritual disciplines that I do, to work with me.  In fact, I love working with people of all religious persuasions because I find beauty and truth through interacting with you.  But I wanted you to know how eclectic my own practice is--because I want you to be comfortable sharing ANYTHING with me.  I do not judge anyone about their religious or spiritual beliefs because I honor the sacred in ALL!  And I would love to have the opportunity to help you create your own spiritual practice and transform into the TRUE YOU!
Up next week:  A Bit about SANDPLAY!!!  Please feel free to comment below about your own spiritual path and practice and I look forward to having the opportunity to serve you.