Celebrate Diversity

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

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

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

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

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

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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Worthiness and Faith

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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It takes courage to let go

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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Celebrate the woo-woo

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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Is arrogance the shadow side of low self esteem?

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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