Last week, a new spiritual book was released by As You Wish Publishing called Guided By Spirit: A Quest for Self-Discovery, Insight & Illumination. It’s a collaborative book, where each chapter is a story from an author about her or his experiences in which they were guided by spirit. My chapter is called “The Woo-Woo.” In my story, I shared three examples of times I felt guided, including one that occurred in the bathroom.
Upon its initial release, Guide By Spirit was an Amazon bestseller in three areas: Existential Psychology, Health & Spirituality, and Death, Grief, & Spirituality. Yesterday, it won gold in the ebookfair.com for the All Books Welcome – Oct Part 2 contest receiving 847 votes.
Each chapter is uplifting and inspiring and rich with hope and healing. It’s available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/6MmQwYV
How many of you have always felt different from those around you, even from childhood? Perhaps you were a sensitive child or displayed abilities that others didn’t. Maybe you didn’t have many friends and even had an imaginary one? If you were like me, you found solace in another activity, which in my case was books and TV shows. I found companionship through their fictional characters. Looking back, it feels a bit lonely, and I can’t help but feel sadness for my younger self, Joey.
I vividly remember sitting by myself under a tree during grade school recess, asking an invisible being, Why? It wasn’t until college that I realized the being was God.
Looking back, I now recognize what I longed for most: to be seen. I wanted someone to notice that sensitive, awkward, little gay boy and assure him that he was good, lovable, and worthy. What about you? Did you ever yearn for this?
And if that longing wasn’t fulfilled, how did you respond? Did you act out to be noticed? Did you try to be the best little girl or boy in the world? Did you find yourself seeking approval by getting the best grades in school and following the rules? That certainly describes me. Without realizing it, I became a workaholic. When my grades weren’t perfect, it felt like confirmation that I wasn’t good enough, or worthy of attention and love.
Some of you may know that I recently created a public Facebook page called Spirit Healer Journeys. The idea was to have a space where I could share my work as a spirit healer, keep you updated on my spiritual fantasy series, and invite discussions on topics raised in my blog and my book series. However, after a couple of months, I noticed the page was getting flooded with ads, which didn’t feel right for the kind of meaningful conversations I wanted to have.
That’s why I just created a private Facebook group called Journeys to Healing and Your Divine You—a safe, ad-free space (hopefully) for deeper connections. In this group, we can discuss topics like feeling different, accepting your innate goodness, identifying your purpose, and so on. Based on the discussion, I’ll also occasionally pull an angel or oracle card to share their messages with the group.
If you’re interested in joining, my assumption is that you can click the group link, https://www.facebook.com/groups/366024949837869/, and request to join. If that doesn’t work, email me at jmcmonagle@gmail.com with your Facebook name, and I’ll invite you.
Once a few join, I’ll kick off the discussion. I can’t wait to hear your stories.
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I’ve written before that I’ve struggled with low self-esteem. I know some of you can relate, never feeling good enough, often comparing yourself to others and concluding you’re lacking. For me, these beliefs stemmed from feeling different from an early age, worsened by bullies. Unfortunately, they were further reinforced by some teachings of the Catholic Church that emphasized unworthiness. For example, the scriptural-based prayer Catholics said before receiving the Eucharist was, “O Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.” Don’t get me wrong. My intention in writing this is not to bad-mouth Catholicism, which always holds a special place in my heart. I loved its ritual, symbolism, music, and many teachings. Most importantly, it established a foundation of belief in a supreme being, which I treasure to this day.
Many years later, even after much therapy, my sense of unworthiness lingered. Despite chats with my divine advisors, who repeatedly assured me I was loved and innately worthy, this belief lingered. In recent months, this was made plain to me, when expressing gratitude for their help. One day, while chatting with them, they stopped me because I was thanking them for something for which I had already thanked them numerous times. On the surface, this didn’t sound like a bad thing until I realized it came from feeling unworthy of their attention; surely, there was someone else more deserving.
During the Skamania retreat that I recently attended (sponsored by Celebrate Your Life), I named that limiting belief. As part of a ritual led by Denise Linn, I imagined it dissolving into nothingness as a biodegradable paper on which it was written floated down the Columbia River. Later, at the same retreat, Radleigh Valentine brought up the topic of faith in a way that made me reconsider its meaning.
My divine advisors prompted me to broaden it from the one-way—me to God—understanding to a threefold experience. The first centered on reminding me to have faith in myself, as I am now, and not in some distant future when I decided I was enough. The second was to take in, at my core, that God and my divine advisors had faith in me. That’s right. I’ll write it again. They have faith in me as a spirit healer, and especially important, as a human living in complex times. And the third, and sometimes most difficult, is for me to have faith that the promises my divine advisors have made to support and help will occur. I can name so many already. Now, I’m not saying I haven’t had challenges and struggles. During the tough moments, though, I try to remind myself that they have come through, even if it hasn’t been on my timeline.
The reality and gift of worthiness and faith. Beautiful concepts that are quite personal. If you struggle with feeling unworthy and having faith that anyone cares, consider my experience. Believe you are worthy and that God, angels, spirit guides, and all in the divine realm have faith in you.
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I attended a Celebrate Your Life Retreat this past weekend. The retreat featured amazing spiritual teachers that included: Denise Linn, Dougall Fraser, Radleigh Valentine, and Lisa Williams. During the retreat, Liz Dawn, the cofounder of Mishka Productions, along with her mother, now in spirit,, highlighted my recent book launch to those who attended (110 in person and more livestreaming). My friend, Terry Bowen, who is also my soul coach, recorded the announcement.
Announcement about Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer
This was the message I received from my divine advisors today. Although my debut novel was just released and over 200 people have downloaded or purchased it in less than a month, I’ve felt weighed down. Some comes from the unfamiliar task of having to promote and market my book. As an introvert, knocking on the doors of bookstores feels scary, to use my inner child’s word. Another weight is that some tasks have not gone smoothly, and I somehow blame myself, even though they’re not in my control. My advisors encouraged me to let go. Just as I wrote the word, encourage, I realized that courage is its root. In effect, they are adding their courage to mine. This morning I went through a meditation to let go offered by Denise Linn, a spiritual teacher. In the meditation, I imagined my weighted worries flowing from my heart into a ball, placing it in a stream, and watching it flow away. It helped.
Are there old limiting beliefs that you struggle to let go? Are there situations that you can’t control but a part of you still tries to? As my advisors encouraged me, let go.
You and I do have the power and courage to do so. Feel it. Claim it. We have the help of God, angels, guides, and even deceased loved ones. to do so.
Feel your courage. Breathe it in. Stand tall. And as you exhale, release it all.
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I’m excited to announce the release of my debut novel, Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer.
This spiritual fantasy novel is the first in a five-book series. To reiterate the plot: The story follows Thom, a misunderstood and lonely boy with unique healing abilities that affect both the body and the spirit. While assisting his mother, a part-time healer, Thom catches the attention of a merchant who seeks to exploit his abilities for personal gain. To protect him, Thom’s healing teacher takes him away, but they soon encounter new dangers and challenges. Thus begins Thom’s journey of self-discovery, learning about his place in the world, his abilities, and his beliefs about God and life after death.
Elements of this novel are autobiographical, given the the subtitle.
Here’s a link to the Amazon page where it’s available in paperback and Kindle versions: https://a.co/d/g3nPjXD
You can purchase an autographed copy of the book from me. Please email me at jmcmonaglehsp@gmail.com if interested.
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My debut novel, Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer, is currently with my publishers, As You Wish Publishing. On July 4, the owners interviewed me about it. It’s a spiritual fantasy and the first in a five-book series.
The story follows Thom, a misunderstood and lonely boy with unique healing abilities that affect both the body and the spirit. While assisting his mother, a part-time healer, Thom catches the attention of a merchant who seeks to exploit his abilities for personal gain. To protect him, Thom’s healing teacher takes him away, but they soon encounter new dangers and challenges. Thus begins Thom’s journey of self-discovery, learning about his place in the world, his abilities, and his beliefs about God and life after death.
You may have heard the phrase woo-woo. Certain people use it to dismiss or even belittle spiritual practices that don’t reflect traditional beliefs. Others, like spiritual teachers, might use it when presenting aspects of their work that even their students might find unusual, like past life regressions, energy healings, or sensing the spirits of the forests. I propose that woo-woo is simply a way to describe the diverse ways we can connect to the divine and receive guidance, each practice possessing validity and meaning to those who follow it.
Consider some traditional practices. Believers are encouraged to pray for help and support from those in heaven, whether to God, saints, and so on. Beneath that is a desire to feel watched over and seen. Others might meditate, attend religious services, and go on retreats in hopes of hearing words that enable them to understand who they are and how to live amidst life’s challenges. Still, others bless themselves with water to cleanse themselves or anoint their bodies with sacred oils to connect them with the divine. Some people might consider that woo-woo.
That’s all that woo-woo is. Why is it necessary to narrow the ways people experience the divine? Why is it crazy to believe that all that exists, both seen and unseen, are made of the same stuff and, therefore, feel a profound connection to it? But it’s not rational, some might insist. Does everything really have to make complete sense to our minds, though? Is love rational? Is faith rational? I’m not just talking about faith in a divine being but in another person.
I must admit that some of the woo-woo stuff doesn’t resonate with me. For example, I like crystals and have a few. But I’m still unsure that crystals emit specific types of energies that we can then use to help our lives. That’s OK. Every practice or belief doesn’t have to. We each get to decide what makes sense to us and aligns with how we look at “life, the universe, and everything,” to use a phrase from the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Our spiritual journey is ours to shape and define.
So, celebrate the woo-woo.
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This might seem a ridiculous question. Arrogant people strut like they own the world, treating everyone as their servants or worse. Whereas, those who struggle with low self esteem often hide from the world, feeling like they have no value. So how could the answer to my question be, yes? Let me share what led to this question.
Two nights ago, I fell into the same dream repeatedly. That, in and of itself, told me it was important. The dream was a warning of sorts to be wary of becoming arrogant. Most who know me would conclude it wasn’t about me.
When I finally arose to start the day, I spent some time in meditation to reflect on it. As I did, I recalled the numerous occasions, while in the early stages of writing my novel, when my divine advisors told me it would be a great success and lead to other opportunities as a spirit healer. With that was the reminder to ground myself in gratitude and true humility.
During my meditation, I also thought about people who I would characterize as arrogant. A few political leaders came to mind. Some common characteristics came to mind, loud, self serving, and ultimately bullies. I believe that beneath their exterior lies low self esteem. But rather than venturing into their pain and insecurities, which takes courage, they choose to take their pain and fear out on others. So, indeed one could be the shadow of the other.
One word of caution, to those reading this. If you are still struggling to recognize your own innate value and beauty, this message is not for you. I’m reminded of something my first spiritual director, Dustin, told me when I was a novice in religious life. At that time, my self esteem was almost non-existent. I looked to others to form my identity and using the book, The Imitation of Christ, as a guide. The book is focused on self abnegation. Providentially, Dustin was also a licensed therapist and directed me to put down the book. It was a graced moment.
Returning to the dream, I knew it was a gentle reminder, as I prepare to send my first novel off to the publisher next month. Enough for now. I’m on vacation and I felt drawn to post this. Blessings to all of you as you celebrate your beauty.
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Remember Your Divine You 