Category: Self improvement

A Delayed Delivery, a Gentle Reminder

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I’ve been expecting a package for the last two days. Each day, the carrier emails me informing me that the package would arrive between 3 and 7 pm. Since the package contains Christmas gifts we need to mail, I made sure I was home and checked the tracking page repeatedly.

Both days, after frequently checking the page, I suddenly saw a notice that they tried to deliver the package but were unable to. Since I live in a condo, the carrier has to use the external phone to alert us when they arrive. They didn’t. The package is now scheduled to arrive on Monday between 3 and 7 pm.

My first thought when imagining the carrier finally delivering it was to tell them off for not properly contacting me the other days. After all, I did everything right. I followed the rules. I was present during the time indicated. They were in the wrong and didn’t follow the rules.

Gratefully, soon after I imagined my reaction, my divine advisors challenged me to consider whether doing so would be beneficial to me. Would it be consistent with and reflective of my ministry as a spirit healer? How would that reaction impact the carrier? I realized I didn’t know the carrier’s situation. He or she was likely stressed from the great volume of their deliveries, given the season.

Considering all od this, the answer came: reacting like I first intended would only diminish us.

Have you ever been in a situation like this? It’s difficult not to want to tell someone off when you’ve followed the rules and someone else hasn’t—and that impacts you negatively. I think of other instances when I feel this self-righteous anger: while driving, when discovering dog poop or trash on the sidewalk, and in other situations.

I’m grateful my divine advisors and my essence reminded me that I’m better than that. So now about the package I’m expecting. Next Monday, I plan to sit in the lobby starting at 3 pm to ensure I receive it, and to thank them when I do.

During this sometimes hectic season, may you be stress-free and able to act from your beautiful divine essence in all your encounters.

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Unnamed Worries/Hidden Limitations

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Yesterday, a friend and I gave each other spiritual readings. A few things stood out from hers about me, especially the message from my divine advisors and guide that I’d become was caught up in various worries and stresses. When she mentioned that, I was surprised. Was I really worrying?

At first, I couldn’t identify anything big. Then I realized that they weren’t big worries but small. Some of them included not getting the bookmark I was designing to align correctly for my newly released book, Where the Heart Leads: Journeys of a Spirit Healer. Despite repeated adjustments, it wasn’t perfect, and this led to worry and stress. Another was about losing weight prior to a vacation. I’d increased my exercise routine significantly, severely restricted sweets, and reduced portion size. Even with that effort, there were times I gained weight rather than losing it. I also noted other small worries as well.

I’m still surprised by how unconscious I was of them.

This morning, during meditation, as I asked Archangel Michael to help me release those worries. As I did, an image and song popped into my head. The image was a river with rocks scattered throughout which impeded the flow. My worries were the rocks, and I realized they limited the possibilities that might come to me.

The companion song to the image was “Let the River Run” by Carly Simon. Its lyrics have always inspired me. I wrote a homily about it when I was a priest. One line still jumps out: “Let the river run. Let all the dreamers wake the nation.” This conveys power and intention that encourages me to go forward and remove the obstacles to enable dreams to become reality.

May your river flow freely, unblocked by worry, so that you can see your possibilities and manifest your dreams.

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What Grows from Broken Plans

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Sometimes disruption is the doorway to divine grace.

In my last blog, I shared a message from my divine advisors about adventures and opportunities. A few hours later, something unexpected happened that changed my unwritten plans: my husband fell and broke his arm. I’m not suggesting that the accident was divinely driven. But what unfolded afterward certainly was.

With his arm immobilized, I stepped into the role of caretaker: managing the household and supporting him. I take this on out of my deep love for him. Still, it was an unplanned interruption.

Two things are important to know. First, I know my calling as a spirit healer is expanding. The messages have been clear. Second, I’ve been told the way it will unfold will be completely unexpected. The engineer in me inevitably keeps trying to figure it out. For example, I wondered if a traditional publisher might contact me about releasing the next book in my spiritual fantasy series, now titled Where the Heart Leads: Journeys of a Spirit Healer.

Up until the accident, I was chugging along at a steady pace with book 2. With my changed responsibilities, I was thrust into a new opportunity: one that forced me to slow down. As my days became more fluid, it opened space in my life for my divine advisors to ‘breathe’ and do their thing. Three nights ago, the first unexpected blessing arrived. I’ll share more about that at another time.

What about you? Is your life so carefully planned out that the unexpected feels like a setback? Are your days so organized that you’re blind to opportunities (even challenging ones) that might contain quiet blessings that support your calling?

Take a moment to reflect. Then offer gratitude. That’s what I do each morning, as something beautiful and holy grows from broken plans.

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Adventures and Opportunities

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A few days ago, I pulled cards from Denise Linn’s oracle deck, Sacred Destiny, seeking guidance about my path as a spirit-healer, and about my spiritual fantasy series. As you recall, my first book, Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer, was released a year ago. I’m now working on the second edit of book two, Where the Heart Leads: Journeys of a Spirit Healer.

The cards I drew were Adventures and Opportunities.

Great, I thought. I just need to stay open and attentive.

During meditation this morning, I was reminded that they don’t have to be earthshaking. They can arrive quietly in small everyday moments—easy to miss if we’re expecting something big. That insight brought two such experiences to mind.

The first came after food shopping. A man down on his luck asked for change. I don’t always give in those situations, as I donate elsewhere. But as I walked away, I felt pulled to give. It was an opportunity.

The second was an adventure. On a morning walk, my husband heard about an eagle’s nest nearby. We drove there and were delighted to find a huge nest with the adults tending their young. With binoculars, we saw the eaglets’ small heads poking up, One adult flew off, soaring in a circle above us, majestic and free. We stayed there for a while, sharing the experience with others who had gathered.

It wasn’t a grand or life-changing adventure, but it was a blessed one. And how fitting that the eagle, the national bird, appeared days before we celebrate Independence Day.

The message for me and perhaps for you is this: keep your eyes and ears open. Adventures and opportunities might be small, but they’re no less significant. And when they do come, be grateful, as I am.

And if you’re feeling called to deepen your connection with your own path, I invite you to explore the world in my book, Shadows and Light: Journeys of a Spirit Healer. It’s more than a story—it’s an adventure, opportunity, and spiritual journey in disguise.

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Celebrate Diversity

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June is known as Pride Month—a time to honor and celebrate LGBTQ+ lives. In the years I’ve written this blog, I haven’t directly addressed my community, since my messages have been for everyone. But this month, I want to speak more personally.

LGBTQ+ people have faced discrimination, judgment, and rejection, especially from many religions. It made life difficult. The hardest part isn’t only enduring that, but the process of coming out to yourself and others. Through this, we develop powerful gifts, and that’s this blog’s focus. I also hope this speaks to anyone who’s felt different from the so-called norm.

Feeling different can be gutting, especially when confronted with images that remind us we don’t belong. We’re not enough and not good enough. Some try to fit in by hiding, adopting behaviors and interests far from our true selves. It’s a sad way to live. And even sadder when they convince themselves it’s their true self.

But this journey isn’t only about struggle. In the process, we discover gifts at a depth uncommon to those who haven’t walked our path. Here are a few:

Self-reflection: Our journey requires that we look within, exploring who we are at the core. We search books, attend workshops, and explore spiritualities to help us figure out who we are. We repeatedly ask, Does this resonate? Does it reflect who I am? We yearn to feel seen. Even after we’ve come out, this self-reflection continues, shaping how we live, love, and choose.

Courage: We may not always feel brave, but it’s present in every step. It rings out when we choose to stand tall, even on days we want to hide. No one else has had our individual experience, though we share commonalities with others like us. It takes courage to celebrate what we bring into the world just for being the person we are, our truest and holiest self.

Compassion: Our experiences of anger, fear, and loneliness enable us to recognize the same struggles in others. Because of it, we can offer love and understanding to those beginning the journey, caught in the thick of it, or simply living their truth now.

Self-reflection, courage, and compassion are only three gifts. Others include creativity, flexibility, sensitivity… I’m sure you can name your own.

This month, I encourage you to celebrate your uniqueness. You are a blessed and holy gift this world desperately needs. Amen. And so it is.

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Angels We Have Heard on High

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It might sound strange to title a May blog using a verse from a Christmas song—but if you know me, it makes perfect sense. My husband lovingly cringes when Hallmark starts playing Christmas movies in July. In truth, I watched one of my favorites two days ago.

Yesterday, I exchanged readings with a friend. One clear message I received from angels and my divine guides was to begin teaching about angels, starting with my own LGBTQ+ community.

This morning, reflecting on that message, I asked my divine advisors which angel might be an advocate and guide. Archangel Raguel stepped forward.

Raguel is known as an angel of harmony and balance. And here in the U.S., both are sorely needed.

If you’re LGBTQ+, you might ask: “Why should I care?” After all, religion, especially Christianity, has too often been used to condemn us. As someone raised Catholic and a former priest, the little I knew of angels was through Christmas songs and scattered biblical stories.

That changed when a retreat session sparked my curiosity, leading me to study with Sunny Dawn Johnston, Kyle Gray, and Radleigh Valentine.

I believe with my whole heart that our souls are pieces of the divine, sharing the same essence as angels. Before we’re born, we choose to incarnate with a unique purpose and in a particular condition, including our sexual attraction and gender identity. Those choices take profound courage. And once here, living out that purpose can be incredibly hard.

And that’s where angels come in.

Angels are not only on high, hanging out on clouds. They walk beside us, offering daily love, support, and guidance through symbols and signs familiar to our personalities. We only need to ask. For me, that’s Oracle cards, songs from musicals, and yes, even Hallmark movies, to name a few.

During my morning reflection, I pulled three Oracle cards: The first, “Self-Employment” (from the Angels and Auras deck), reinforced the reading message; the second, “Ask and Receive” (from the Angel Guide deck), reminded me to simply ask; and the third, “Archangel Raguel” (from the Angel Prayers deck), became our advocate.

I’m not asking you to believe everything I share or forget the hurt and anger religion may have caused. I simply ask you to consider that the judgment we’ve heard is just BS, and might not reflect divine truth. Your experience is real, and you have the right to follow the path that makes sense to you.

And, as I was asked in my reading yesterday, be open. And see what possibilities might appear.

Sending you love and understanding,
from one still trying to make sense of it all.

Full disclosure: The image of Raguel was generated by ChatGPT, based on a collaboration between me and the AI. The scales of justice and glowing staff are key elements. Here are the words the tool used, and that also reflect my own understanding:

For the scale, each side “represents opposing forces—truth and falsehood, compassion and judgment, harmony and conflict…. His glowing staff symbolizes divine authority and illumination—guiding truth, discernment, and balance. It can also represent Raguel’s role in bringing clarity, resolving conflict, and restoring harmony, especially in matters of justice and relationships.”

In these times, such things are desperately needed.

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Attend

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Busy and full days in 2025. I’m halfway through the first edit of book 2 of my spiritual fantasy series, tentatively titled ‘Revelations and Reckonings: Journey of a Spirit Healer. I received a few messages over the last month from my divine advisors that I wanted to share: Attend; Recognize your power but release control; and Feel and share the light.

Share the Light

Attend

Attend to your body: Does your body need special care right now? More rest? Are you working too hard?

Attend to your spirit: Is your psyche stretched to the limit with all that’s happening today. Is constant and chaotic news dragging you down, or causing you to be angry with others. Take time to reconnect to your divine self and feel the love and support of your guardian angel, guides, and God.

Recognize your power but release control

In the face of actions by the current U.S. administration, it’s easy to feel powerless. But we are not. We carry innate power not only as citizens, but by virtue of enfleshing the divine: our soul. Really take that in. Connect with the fullness of who you are, and feel the strength of all divine beings.

With that power comes the invitation to your part, whatever you identify that to be. But it also comes with a reminder to release control of the outcome. I know that’s difficult to do. And that leads me to the last message.

Feel and share the Light

Each day, experience the light that is your divine essence. A friend shared a practice that might help: while walking outside on a sunny day, imagine you have wings extended outward. Feel the light and warmth falling on them being absorbed into the depth of your being, strengthening you and helping you live your truest self. Then, throughout the day, radiate that light to all in our country and world. A practice I’ve added is to find childhood pictures of those currently in leadership. I imagine them to be hurting, scared children, desperately yearning for love and acceptance. By sending them light and love, my hope is that these children, now inner children inside the adult, experience a change and remember the best selves they are called to be.

Attend; Recognize your power but release control; Feel and share the light

Those are the messages I received. I radiate light and love to you as you bring your true self forward into the world.

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Radical Presence

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Yesterday, I experienced an Akashic reading with a beautiful soul, Jane. For those unfamiliar, the Akashic or Akashic Records are an expanse of experiences, knowledge, and consciousness that surround us. Existing outside of time, they encompass the past, present, and future. As a bookworm, I imagine it as a vast library where I can check out a book to uncover insights to guide my life and calling.

In the reading, rather than pulling information for me, Jane tapped into the divine energy and experience of being in the flow of the Akashic. What she shared was incredible. Many messages stood out. The one that’s coming to me now is the experience of radical presence.

As a recovering workaholic, I spent a good portion of my life always looking ahead. What do I have to do today? What’s the next project? What can I cross off my endless list? For years, I’ve endeavored to live more in the present. Radical presence suggests taking that to the next level.

On my morning walk, I wondered what radical presence might truly mean. Could it be quieting my mind, feeling each step, breathing in the crisp air, and appreciating the trees and plants by touching their leaves and bark? While these felt like steps toward it, I sensed there was more I couldn’t quite name.

Years ago, while studying counseling psychology, I read about radical acceptance. It dealt with accepting all we experience in the moment. It wasn’t about surrendering to injustice, discrimination, and the like; it was about acknowledging the fullness of what you are experiencing rather than denying it. Might radical presence then be the foundation on which radical acceptance rests?

What are your thoughts? What does radical presence look and feel like? As we move into the holiday season and approach a new year, perhaps play with that idea and see what floats to the surface from the Akashic river of consciousness.

If you’re interested in having an akashic reading from Jane, you can contact her through her website, akashicjoy.com.

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Guided by Spirit: a new book release

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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

To Be Seen and Heard

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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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