Tag: spirituality

Balance

JoeLeave a comment

I recently completed a twenty-eight day Soul Coaching program with a goal of connecting more deeply to spirit. The final exercise was to go on a mini vision quest, a traditional rite of passage taken in nature to gain spiritual insight. I call mine “mini” because it lasted only a couple of hours instead of days—but the insight I gained was powerful:

To connect more deeply to the divine, I needed to connect more strongly with nature to restore my balance.

Does that make sense to you?

Up until then, while I recognized my need to ground and appreciate nature, much of my spiritual focus was directed toward the heavens. That typically entailed daily meditations, regular chats with my divine advisors, going on retreats, and attending workshops and programs. I didn’t realize that something was missing.

My vision quest insight called me to remember that while I bear a divine essence (my soul), I do so within flesh and blood. In other words, my very existence is part of nature and is in fact made of the same stuff.

So rather than “looking up” to strengthen my connection to the divine, I’m invited to look around at the wonder of creation. To appreciate the beauty, be grateful for it, care for it, and remember the fullness of who I am as an incarnated being. By doing so, I deepen my relationship with the divine and also step into my role as a co-creator.

What about you? Are you spiritually balanced? What’s your relationship with nature? I invite you to feel your connection to all of it, and through it, experience the divine in a new way.

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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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You are Innately Good

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Your spirit or soul is a piece of the divine incarnated in your human body. As such, you are holy. During Pride Month, that includes everyone in the LGBTQ+ community. It also includes our persecutors, even those who are power-hungry, greedy, and deceitful. I believe these folks have forgotten who they are at their core. Otherwise, they wouldn’t act as they do.

Still, I don’t want to focus on them here. I want to focus on you, those who are loving, kind, and act justly. To you, I ask a question: What does it feel like to be innately good?

Two days ago, I attended an Akashic meditation session. During the meditation, Jane, who led the session, shared the message that reminded us of our goodness. I found myself wondering what that felt like in my body.

I asked my divine advisors, hoping my body would provide their answer. Nothing came. Since then, I asked again, continuing to imagine what it might feel like.

My first thought was that it might simply be the tingling I experience when connected to the divine. While the sensation was pleasant and reassuring, my intuition said that wasn’t it. That experience seemed more about my place in the divine realm, not how goodness is embodied.

Next, I wondered if it felt like confidence or contentment. But that would imply that I wasn’t innately good when I felt insecure or upset. And my intuition tells me that feeling my goodness is more fundamental.

What else might it feel like? Relaxed? Happy? Grounded? Again, they may be an outcome of our goodness, but they don’t adequately describe how it feels in the body.

So, I ask you: How might you describe the feeling of innate goodness? You’re welcome to share your answer in the comments.

Until then, may your innate goodness bless you and guide you in your life, helping you discover and live your passion for the good of all.

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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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From Imposter to Intuitive

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For spiritual teachers, the imposter syndrome centers on the belief that she or he doesn’t know enough to be a teacher and the fear that someone will find out. I admit that I’ve struggled with that.

For much of my early life, I relied on logic. I believed there were answers for everything, and each question had only one answer. When I went to the seminary and began studying the scriptures, I faced a dilemma. After reading one theologian’s interpretation of a Biblical passage, I concluded he was correct until I read another’s. Who was right? Which one was lying?

Fast-forward 12 years. After leaving the priesthood, I continued my search for the truth about God, myself, and life. Without realizing it, I continued searching for the one spiritual teacher with all the answers. When I found one with whom I resonated, I became excited. Here was someone who had similar experiences. Providentially, that lasted until I heard a teaching that didn’t match my beliefs. I must admit that I felt a little betrayed. That was a good thing. The last thing I needed was to rely on one person.

Years passed, and I continued seeking out teachers, eventually learning that one person doesn’t have all the answers and to rely on what resonated with me. But I was still driven to learn. Last year, I overextended myself, attending so many workshops and seminars that some conflicted. In one of them, a teacher brought up the imposter syndrome. I realized my drive was based on that syndrome and my underlying fear. Furthermore, my divine advisors challenged me to believe in myself.

While I’ll continue to sign up for workshops that interest me, a key resolution this year is to release my lingering fear of not being good enough, trusting that I have something unique to offer. What about you? Have you struggled with the imposter syndrome? Are you signing up for endless workshops, leaving you little free time? Consider reflecting on whether you do so because you don’t believe you know or are good enough. Through our intuition and divine soul, we have access to knowledge and wisdom. It’s up to us to listen and discover a path unique to our experience that serves the highest good.

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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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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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Celebrate the woo-woo

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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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