My spiritual journey “officially” began when I took my very first magic class over 20 years ago. Gosh, I guess I was 23 years old at the time, three years out of college.
My exposure to “alternative” spirituality was non-existent as a child. I was raised in a military family, was baptized Catholic, went to CCD (which I just had to Google, because I had completely forgotten what the acronym stood for; it’s basically Catholic Sunday school), and received my first communion. I was a Girl Scout and a straight-A student. I loved gymnastics and playing soccer.
While this part of my story may sound wholesome in a Reagan-Era kind of way, it also isn’t the full story. And that, dear ones, is another story perhaps for another time.
The upshot is I wasn’t steeped in anything particularly “alternative” when it came to spirituality. Not like my high school friend whose mom took us to receive psychic readings when we were 16. Not like my raised-by-a-hippie college friend who introduced me to divination using the I-Ching.
But even as my youth possessed a certain spiritual conservatism and even as rationalism and feminism steered me away from the Church (see my essay on “The Power of Having a Higher Power”), I can see the roots of magic way back in my younger years.
Deep, revelatory dreams. An awareness of the spirits of nature. Little spells I would create without knowing to call them spells. Tools I used for steering myself through challenging times (like the one in my essay “A True Story About A Mantra”).
As I grew up, I encountered more “alternative” points of view. I recently heard a bit on NPR about the real value of undergraduate education being exposure to points of view outside our communities of origin. Indeed, as the one freshman in her dorm who shined her own shoes with her own shoe-shine kit gifted by her military father, that was true for me.
During college, I met a young woman who called herself a Witch, maintained a personal altar, and slept outside under the full moon. My best friend started reading Mary Daly and exploring Goddess spirituality. I encountered first-hand the efficacy of crystal healing. After college, I had a few professional Tarot readings and a formative astrology reading that set me to study the language of the stars.
Then came my first magic class twenty-some years ago. It was an introduction to the transformative powers of the elements of nature — Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The class took place in the attic ritual room of an old San Francisco Victorian belonging to a feminist spirituality pioneer.
That class set me firmly on my spiritual path. A path that has taken me to metaphoric mountain peaks, as well as through brambles and shadows. Along the path, I became a teacher in what I now call my root tradition; I’ve explored and trained in adjacent healing modalities; I opened a little Goddess shop in San Francisco; I earned a Master’s degree in Spirituality from a Catholic university alongside some radical, Tarot-using, ritual-weaving nuns; I created an oracle of essential themes for guidance and growth; I’ve served my community as a transformative coach using my unique combination of skills and training.
My path is no one else’s path but my own. Just as your path is unique to you.
If you desire to claim, create, or deepen on your unique spiritual path, I invite you to explore the Wisdom Year. It’s a year-long journey that uses the 12 themes of my Seeds of Wisdom oracle as focal points for intuitive and spiritual development. The journey begins in January.
Wisdom Year
The journey begins with the theme Initiation. Here’s a bit about Initiation from the Seeds of Wisdom guidebook…
Behind you is everything you’ve known.
Ahead of you is a threshold into the unknown.
Blue skies invite you to take the leap.
The Initiation card signifies that
you are ready to become the person
your future self is calling you to be.
The Wisdom Year is for self-identified women. (To the wonderful men in my community, while I don’t have a program tailored to Men’s Mysteries, I do address spiritual themes in my coaching work and can work with you in individual sessions. I would be honored if you felt comfortable sharing the Wisdom Year with the women who are dear to you.) It is for women of all religious affiliations who feel called to develop their intuition and “alternative” ways of knowing.
And while the Wisdom Year is not an oracle card training per se, because participants will engage deeply with the Seeds of Wisdom themes while developing their intuitive capacities, graduates will be qualified to provide Seeds of Wisdom readings and will receive my blessing to call themselves certified Seeds of Wisdom oracle readers.
The Wisdom Year takes place online — giving you the freedom to be anywhere in the world. It is a substantial experience with many layers of support:
Our monthly gatherings take place via Zoom video-conference on Saturdays at 11am Pacific time. I chose this time and technology to make the gatherings accessible to my far-flung global community. 11am my time is 2pm Eastern time; it’s 7pm in the UK and 8pm in many parts of Europe.
This year-long spiritual journey is an adventure in soul discovery and expression. It is a convergence of energy work, universal principles of transformation, reclamation of the wise and powerful feminine archetype, and community deepening.
For more information about the Wisdom Year, click here: