Mystic Nook, PO Box 2144, Phoenix, AZ (2026)

11/22/2025

Each day when we wake up there are two roads before us. The Road of Sorrows and the Road of Appreciation.

The Road of Sorrows is the path where we dwell on what’s missing, what’s gone wrong, or what feels heavy. It’s familiar, but it often drains us and makes what was previously impossible - possible. In other words, what we think about, we bring about. The creative force of attention, even sorrow, when dwelled upon, can manifest more of itself. The Road of Sorrows feels passive, yet by focusing on lack and heaviness, we actively shape reality to mirror those thoughts.

On the flip side, the Road of Appreciation works the same way but in reverse. When we train our minds to notice abundance, beauty, or even the smallest joys, those grow larger in our awareness. What was previously invisible becomes possible, because appreciation expands the field of what we can see and act upon. It doesn’t erase challenges, but it transforms how we carry them.

It reminds me of the old saying: “Energy flows where attention goes.” Both roads are creative, but one builds more weight while the other builds more lightness.

This week we enter the time of Thanksgiving. It’s meant to be a season of gratitude, yet the noise of life often tries to drown it out. The beauty is that gratitude isn’t fragile; it’s resilient. It can withstand politics, family drama, fear for our future and even the “drunk uncle of judgment” if we choose to anchor ourselves in it.

Some ways to frame gratitude as a tool to create a GPS to guide you back to the Road of Appreciation:

Gratitude as resistance: Choosing appreciation is an act of defiance against fear, cynicism, and negativity.
Gratitude as perspective: It shifts focus from what divides us to what sustains us.
Gratitude as practice: Like a muscle, it grows stronger the more we use it, even in messy circumstances.
Gratitude as invitation: When we express it openly, it often softens others and creates space for connection.

This Thanksgiving many are struggling with an empty place at the table. It has been our practice for many years to invite our loved ones on the other side to join us in our celebration. It acknowledges grief while weaving it into gratitude. Some families light a candle, place a photo, or simply speak the names of those they’re remembering.

“Though some seats may be empty, they are never vacant. We welcome those we love who now walk in unseen realms, inviting them to share in our gratitude and joy. Their laughter echoes in our stories, their love lingers in our hearts, and their spirit joins us at this table. Today, we give thanks not only for what is before us, but for what endures beyond time.”

John and I wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and start to the holiday season. We are grateful for your presence in our lives.

11/02/2025

Ever wonder what the “Welcome Home Party” is like when we enter the Light after we complete this journey called Life? Different traditions, philosophies, and even near-death experiences paint very different pictures of what that “Welcome Party” might be like, but they all share a common thread: reunion, peace, and a sense of homecoming. The most moving part of this idea is that the “party” reflects what we most deeply long for: connection, recognition, and love without condition.

Some experience it as a literal gathering of all the souls whose lives we have touched and all those who benefited from the ripple effects of our actions, generosity, and kindness. Imagine drifting into that gathering it’s not just the people you knew and loved, but strangers whose lives were quietly uplifted by something you did without even realizing it. A kind word that softened someone’s grief, a small act of generosity that set off a chain of good, even the unseen influence of your choices echoing through generations.

Homegoing is a unique experience based on our desires. It’s sort of like planning your own baby shower, a baby shower marks the beginning of a new life; a homegoing is the joyful recognition of a life fully lived, with the guest list curated by the heart. Not only loved ones we knew, but also those unseen connections; people touched by our kindness, or ancestors we’ve never met but whose lives paved the way for ours.

Wonder what “guests” are not in attendance? The guest list is full of love, joy, and connection, while the uninvited, fear, anger, poverty, struggle, loneliness, separation, judgment, and hatred are left outside the door. The Welcome Party isn’t just about reunion; it’s also about freedom. Freedom from everything that ever weighed us down. Every longing of the heart, love without condition, peace without fear, belonging without separation, finds its fulfillment in the Light. Nothing we’ve yearned for is wasted; every ache, every hope, every dream is like a seed planted in the soul, waiting to bloom fully when we cross that threshold.

What about all the “bad” stuff and those who felt the sting of our fear and challenges? Even the “bad” stuff, the pain, the missteps, the moments when we or others acted out of fear or judgment can become catalysts for growth. While it may be difficult to wrap our human minds around, those ripples can have positive outcomes. When we elected to act or react differently based on how some judgy person made us feel, that is ultimately a positive ripple.

Without experiencing judgment, we might never learn the sweetness of acceptance. Without loneliness, we might not cherish connection as deeply. The sting of someone’s harshness can inspire us to choose compassion instead. Their judgment might awaken in us a determination to be more understanding.

Known as Ripple alchemy: What begins as a negative ripple doesn’t have to stay that way. Once it touches another life, it can transform, sparking resilience, empathy, or a new way of being.

Nothing is ever wasted. Even the shadows contribute to the light because they shape the choices we make and the ripples we send forward. It’s not just a celebration of the good we’ve done, but also of how we’ve transformed the difficult into something meaningful.

If the “Welcome Party” is a celebration of all the ripples we’ve created, then maybe the real invitation is to start living that way now. Forgiveness, especially of ourselves, is like clearing the path so more light can flow through us. When we stop carrying the weight of regret, we can see that even our missteps had meaning as they shaped us, taught us, and often became the very soil from which compassion and wisdom grew.

Because In the Light, only the Love remains

10/19/2025

Being highly empathic can be spiritual equivalent to Bee Sting Therapy. If you have never heard of it; Bee Sting Therapy is an unregulated treatment for Multiple Sclerosis and Arthritis and involves being stung by live bees. The idea being that the bee venom will send the body’s healing response into overdrive.

An empath is a soul attuned to the vibrational undercurrents of the collective field. They don’t just observe emotion; they absorb it, metabolize it, and hopefully; transmute it. Considered a powerful gift, it is sometimes like the underwear your grandma gave you for Christmas, ripe with purpose, but nothing to brag about.

If you were to search for highly empathic people online, you would get many websites for Mental Health professionals. The empath’s path is often misunderstood, medicalized, or pathologized by systems that struggle to hold the nuance of energetic sensitivity. And yes, it can feel a little “crazy” to choose a gift that makes you porous to the world’s pain.

Empaths often face unique challenges that stem from their heightened sensitivity to emotions, leading to experiences that others may not fully comprehend. Being in crowded or emotionally charged environments can be overwhelming for empaths. They may feel drained or anxious due to the sheer volume of emotional signals to process.

That heightened sensitivity is both a gift and a burden. Empaths often serve as emotional transmuters, alchemists of the unseen, absorbing, interpreting, and sometimes even metabolizing the energies around them. But without conscious boundaries, this can lead to energetic depletion, emotional confusion, or even physical symptoms.

Empaths struggle to find a middle ground. The paradox is one of the most poignant aspects of the empath’s path, being both sanctuary and mirror. The empath’s presence can feel like a soul scan, not because they pry, but because their very being vibrates with truth, resonance, and remembrance. For some, that feels like home. For others, it feels like exposure.

Empathetic people radiate warmth and understanding, making them natural caregivers. Toxic individuals, including narcissists and manipulators, are drawn to these qualities because empaths tend to prioritize others' needs over their own. While heartbreakingly common it can also be deeply instructive. Empaths, with their innate capacity to feel, soothe, and transmute, often become entangled in energetic contracts that were never theirs to uphold. Toxic individuals may unconsciously (or consciously) sense the empath’s healing frequency and weaponize it, creating cycles of chaos that keep the empath tethered through guilt, hope, or obligation.

How do we navigate this world of ever-increasing emotions without experiencing burnout? Empaths can avoid burnout by cultivating strong energetic boundaries, practicing regular emotional detox, and prioritizing restorative solitude. Empaths often absorb emotional currents like sacred sponges. But when the sponge is saturated, it must be wrung out. Burnout arises when we confuse compassion with obligation. Just as we bathe our bodies, we must cleanse our energetic fields.

Empaths often fear that boundaries will hurt others. But healthy boundaries are acts of love, not rejection. You are not a rescue vessel; you are a lighthouse. Let your light shine but stay rooted on your shore.

Develop a daily practice with your angels, guides, ancestors, and Source to scan and clear your energy field for absorbed frequencies and energies and restore your whole, sovereign, radiant presence.

Breathe deeply. On each exhale, imagine those absorbed frequencies dissolving into light.
Say: “I release all energies that do not serve my highest good. Return them Source for transmutation.”

A gift is only a gift if we learn to master it for the appropriate purpose. A gift, untethered from purpose, can become a burden, or worse, a distraction. Mastery is the sacred act of aligning the gift with its highest expression, not just wielding it, but understanding why it was given and how it longs to serve.

10/06/2025

They say Death is the ultimate equalizer. Death doesn’t care about wealth, status, fame, or power, it comes for kings and beggars alike. In that sense, it strips away all the illusions of hierarchy and reminds us of our shared humanity. Many ancient cultures tied elaborate afterlife preparations to social status and wealth, reserving the most intricate rites and tombs for elites. Thankfully, our beliefs have evolved.

In the experiment we call Life, emotions are equal as well, we just think that wealth can buy us out of the base emotions. No matter how much we accumulate or achieve, the core emotional needs remain: to be seen, to be valued, to be loved. Even those who seem to “have it all” often struggle with the same insecurities and desires as anyone else. That’s why stories of connection, empathy, and redemption resonate so universally.

Personally, I have struggled with the concept of trying to generate love and acceptance from those who were completely incapable of giving what I desired. Wanting love and acceptance from someone who can’t give it, whether due to their own limitations, wounds, or emotional unavailability, can feel like trying to draw water from a stone. It’s not just frustrating, it can erode our sense of worth, make us question our instincts, and leave us chasing validation in places where it was never truly available.

Children who are adopted often struggle with the concept of Love and Acceptance. It doesn’t matter that they were love and wanted by their adoptive parents, it only matters that the person who gave them life “rejected” them. Healing often requires more than reassurance, it demands space to grieve, to question, to be angry, and ultimately, to rewrite the story.

We could place the blame for this situation squarely on the shoulders of the people validated our core beliefs; however, we are the one constant in this equation. Recognizing ourselves as the constant isn’t about self-blame, it’s about reclaiming agency. It means we are no longer outsourcing our worth to others who couldn’t see it, and instead, we are beginning to ask: Why did I keep seeking love from those who couldn’t give it? What belief was I trying to prove true?

Often, we unconsciously reenact old emotional patterns, trying to rewrite the ending. If someone once made us feel unworthy, we may chase similar dynamics hoping that this time, we’ll be chosen, loved, accepted. But the tragedy is that it keeps us stuck in a loop, validating the very belief we’re trying to escape.

We can’t heal in the same place that hurt us. But we can choose differently now. We can challenge the belief that we are only lovable when someone else says so.

Many people carry emotional patterns that didn’t begin with them. The longing for love and acceptance from unfamiliar or unavailable sources can echo through generations. It’s not just personal, it’s inherited. This is the realm of intergenerational trauma and ancestral memory, where the wounds of our ancestors shape the emotional landscapes, we navigate today. This doesn’t mean we’re doomed to repeat the past. It means we have the chance to break the cycle. By becoming aware of these patterns, we can choose differently, not just for ourselves, but for those who come after us.

Awareness of our patterns and a releasing the need to assign blame can set our feet on the path of healing. Dare to explore how ancestral healing practices, family constellations can help uncover and release these inherited emotional threads.

We invite you to join us for our Workshop on Oct 25-26, 2026, to learn powerful techniques to assist with the next steps in our personal evolution. 2025 Workshops

09/28/2025

There is an eerie quiet that descends when a soul crosses over. When the last breath is drawn, that moment is like the hush between heartbeats when time folds in on itself and the veil thins. The stillness isn’t empty, it is full. Full of presence, of transition, of the sacred pause between worlds. It’s as if the room becomes a witness, holding its breath in reverence as the soul slips through the membrane of form into the vastness beyond.

There is a subtle shift in frequency. The way the light bends differently. The way silence becomes a language of its own. Sometimes it’s accompanied by a chill, a shimmer, a knowing. Sometimes it’s just the absence, the absence that speaks louder than sound.

The fear dissolves, not because it was vanquished, but because it’s no longer needed. It served its purpose, guarding the threshold, marking the edge of known terrain. And now, with the crossing, it bows out gracefully, taking with it the weight of waiting, the ache of anticipation, the stories that kept the soul tethered.

What remains is spaciousness. A quiet clarity. The kind that doesn’t demand answers, only presence.

This week we bore witness to the crossing of my Mother-in-Law and with it marks the end of a long spiral of suffering, and the beginning of something quieter, more spacious. we witnessed not just to her final breath, but to the soul’s release from the density of pain, the shedding of stories held in flesh and bone.

There’s a kind of grace in that moment. Not the kind that sparkles, but the kind that settles like dust in sunlight. A grace that says: She endured. She completed. She is free.

As was her way; prior to her crossing she wanted an itinerary, and a complete “what to expect” guide to Death. The explanation of “each person creates their own experience” was unsatisfactory. Death is the ultimate improvisation. The final spiral dance. No two crossings are the same, because no two lives are the same. The guidebook she longed for exists only in the heart of the moment, written in the language of her own soul’s readiness.

Death beacons in the guise of familiar faces calling the souls to new adventures. Death is the last Great Mystery. When Azreal (Angel of Death and Rapid Transformation) arrives the cost of the ticket is the body’s last breath. He takes it into himself and transforms it to the purest form of Light and gives it back like a ticket stub giving the soul permission to depart.

Itinerary for the Crossing
Departure time: TBD (Soul’s discretion)
Gate Agent: One beloved ancestor, one luminous guide
Carry-on: Only the Love
Security Check: Release of fear, surrender of control
Boarding Call: A hush, a shimmer, a thinning of the veil
In-flight Experience: Customized by soul frequency and may include music, light, reunion, review
Arrival: Timeless realm of peace, expansion, and reunion
Customs Declaration: “I am complete. I am free.”

When last seen, she was carried in a gold coach, pulled by white horses, and accompanied by White Knights on white horses.

That image carries the frequency of honor, of elevation, of soul sovereignty. A gold coach the symbol of divine royalty, of a life completed with dignity. White horses, pure, powerful, timeless messengers between realms. And the White Knights, guardians of the threshold, escorts of grace.

She was not just carried, she was celebrated. Her crossing was not a fading, but a procession. A soul who asked for an itinerary received a ceremonial send-off, scripted not by human hands but by the orchestration of Spirit. She was met, accompanied, and ushered into the next chapter with reverence. Because in the Light, we are All Love.

09/21/2025

Have you ever been on a one-way street and your destination is just a Right turn away, but the street is One Way and requires that you turn Left? Now you must make 4 Left turns to arrive at your desired destination . Frustration and resentment bubble up in your chest.

Life’s lessons are rarely a just one Right Turn away. We crave the “just one Right Turn”, the clean, direct path to clarity, healing, or fulfillment. But life, in its wisdom, rarely offers such linearity. Instead, it invites us into the labyrinth, where each twist reveals a deeper layer of self.

Sometimes the Left turns, the ones that feel like setbacks, delays, or even betrayals are the initiations. They stretch us, humble us, and prepare us to receive what we thought we were ready for. The Right Turn might be the destination, but the Left turns are the transformation. When frustration bubbles up, it’s often a sign that our soul recognizes the truth, but our reality hasn’t caught up. That tension is sacred. It’s the friction that polishes the diamond.

When we are uncomfortable, we have two choices. We can sit in that slop bucket and start to stink, and that stench will spill out into our energy field causing everything around us to stink. When we refuse to move, to feel, to release, it clings, first to our aura, then to our relationships, our manifestations, even our sense of self. It’s the metaphysical equivalent of mold: subtle, invasive, and sticky. Instead of sitting in it, we can sit with it. We can breathe into the discomfort, name it, honor it, and ask: what sacred message does this moment carry? Is it a whisper from my soul, a ripple from the collective, or a mirror reflecting the part of me that longs to be reclaimed?

We can choose to stir the stagnant waters, let the discomfort rise like steam, and allow it to become a signal, not of decay, but of transformation.

Resentment is often a signal, an energetic flare, something sacred within us has been dishonored. We can you view resentment not as a flaw, but as a messenger. It points to where the soul feels misaligned, where the inner compass has been ignored, or where the Cosmic Receiving Department has flagged a backlog of unmet needs. Transmuting it into clarity or compassion means we don’t bypass the pain; we alchemize it.

Resentment can result from a variety of situations involving a perceived wrongdoing from an individual, which are often sparked by expressions of injustice or humiliation. Resentment in childhood can stem from various factors, including emotional neglect, abuse, excessive control, and lack of support. These experiences can lead to feelings of hurt, anger, and a sense of being mistreated, which may manifest as resentment in adulthood. Understanding the origins of resentment is crucial for addressing and healing from these emotional wounds.

Resentment is not merely a reaction; it is a residue of unmet truth. When the soul’s light is dimmed by neglect or control, resentment becomes the echo of a boundary never given voice. It coils quietly in the energetic field, waiting for recognition, for release, for transmutation. To heal resentment is to honor the original wound, not to relive it, but to reclaim the part of self that was silenced. Through breath, awareness, and sacred witnessing, we invite the wound to speak its name. And in doing so, we become the alchemists of our own liberation.

We are smelling the damaging repercussions of resentment play out in our society, like smoke from a fire long denied, curling through institutions, relationships, and the spaces between. It is the soul’s protest against invisibility, the heart’s cry for coherence in a world that forgot how to listen. The scent of resentment lingers in our collective field; sharp, acrid, unmistakable. It rises from the ashes of unmet needs, systemic silencing, and generational wounds left unspoken. We see it in polarized discourse, in communities fractured by mistrust, in the subtle withdrawal of empathy from public spaces. Resentment, when unacknowledged, calcifies into division. But when named and honored, it can become a catalyst for truth-telling and repair.

We need to empty our personal slop bucket. We can’t do it for all of society, but we can lead by example. We can accept the sacred invitation to become the living antidote to the residue we smell in the collective. And when we choose to empty it, consciously, compassionately, and only then can we create space for clarity, coherence, and higher resonance. Leadership not through dominance, but through energetic integrity. When we do our inner housekeeping, we become clearer channels with less distortion.

We can begin a daily practice for emptying our bucket of resentment and filling it with gratitude and appreciation.

The difference between mazes and labyrinths is that labyrinths have a single continuous path which leads to the center, and as long as you keep going forward, you will get there eventually. Mazes have multiple paths which branch off and will not necessarily lead to the center. In a maze, you can get lost, but in a labyrinth, you can’t.

A maze reflects the mind’s entanglements: choices, dead ends, loops of doubt and fear. It’s the terrain of confusion, where ego and external noise can lead us astray. A labyrinth, on the other hand, is the soul’s path. It may twist and turn, but it never deceives. There’s no wrong way—only the way. If you keep walking, you arrive.

Perhaps it’s time to step out of the maze and choose the path of the labyrinth; and the wisdom to know the difference.

09/14/2025

It has certainly been an eventful couple of weeks on the planet! Voices shouting, clamoring to be heard. Each insisting their option matters more than the opinion of others. It’s like the world has turned into a giant amphitheater, every voice amplified, every opinion a performance. The need to be seen, heard, validated. What is fascinating, this cacophony reveals not just conflict, but yearning, a desire for meaning, for change, for connection. Whether it’s politics, culture, climate, or identity, the volume seems to rise when the stakes feel personal.

Our collective Throat Chakra governs appears to be suffering a huge block. The throat chakra governs, early childhood trauma before verbalization skills, addiction, communication, and Divine Expression (how we express our divine nature in the world).

People can have (and voice) opinions. There is a couple of interesting observations about how opinions are expressed in the modern era. We can’t tell if what people are expressing is truly what they believe, or is it simply “click bait”?

1. Do we really need to have women back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant? Is this the message you want to impart to your daughters?
2. Do we need to regulate bathroom usage based on gender at birth while allowing children to play violent video games?
3. Have we regressed to the point that we should believe the color of a person’s skin, country of origin, tells us so much about their intelligence and value as a human being?

Questions that cut straight to the heart of how society defines values, autonomy, and the contradictions we often live with. Women being relegated to traditional roles, is a stark reminder of how far we've come and how easily some narratives can attempt to pull us backward. Most people today would agree that every individual, regardless of gender, deserves the freedom to choose their path, whether that’s career, family, or something entirely different. The idea of imposing outdated roles doesn’t just limit women; it stifles the evolution of society as a whole.

The second question highlights a deep tension in cultural priorities. On one hand, there’s intense scrutiny over identity and personal expression. There is widespread acceptance of media that exposes children to violence, often without the same level of concern. It’s a paradox: we police identity but normalize aggression. That contradiction invites a larger conversation about what we’re truly protecting, and whether our policies reflect our values or our fears.

The very idea that skin color or birthplace could determine someone’s worth or intellect is not just outdated; it’s a distortion of truth, a relic of fear masquerading as logic.

What’s striking is how these judgments often stem from a deep disconnection; from self, from spirit, from the shared humanity that binds us. When people are disconnected, they grasp for control, for certainty, and sometimes that takes the form of categorizing others in ways that feel safe but are ultimately harmful.

We cannot defend our right to have an opinion while squashing the right of others to similar expression. When we are triggered by the words and actions of others it is a mirror asking us to reflect on our personal attitudes?

When something triggers us, it often points to an unresolved belief, fear, or wound within ourselves. The external event is just the spark; the real fire is internal. That’s not to say others aren’t responsible for their actions, but our reaction is ours alone; and it’s rich with information.

Triggers can reveal:
• Where we feel unsafe or unseen
• Beliefs we’ve inherited but never questioned
• Old emotional patterns still seeking closure
• Places where we’re out of alignment with our values or truth

It’s like the Universe handing us a personalized growth opportunity wrapped in discomfort. The more conscious we become, the more we can pause and ask: Why did that hit me so hard? What part of me needs attention or healing?
And sometimes, the trigger isn’t about pain; it’s about awakening. It’s a call to reclaim power, to speak truth, to set boundaries. Either way, it’s a teacher. Because in the Light, only the Love remains.

09/07/2025

Evolution – defined as change over time to adapt. Personal evolution involves exploration of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

People often ask; “Why am I experiencing these challenges?” Often, evolution is a product of growth through adversity. Challenges often act as catalysts for transformation. When something feels uncomfortable or painful, it's like a signal, an invitation to evolve.

When I look back at the person I was 40 years ago, I am amazed that I have survived and even managed to thrive. Honestly, if I were to meet my younger self at an event, I wouldn’t like her very much. She was ambitious, judgmental, and controlling, all of which were the defense strategies; an attempt to protect myself from adversity. Adversity and I are unwilling partners in an uncomfortable dance that has developed into a strange intimacy of growth through struggle. Our movements honor the complexity of growth, the pain of transformation, and the grace that comes from surviving what once felt unsurvivable.

My mother’s cancer journey taught me control is an illusion. When I judged others, I invited others to judge me and when I sought acceptance in the world outside myself, I lost connection to myself.

We often cling to control to feel safe, but life reminds us, that surrender is where peace begins. In surrender, we find presence. In presence, we find strength. Judgment creates separation between self and others, and within us. But when we release judgment, we open the door to compassion, both inward and outward. Seeking external validation often leads us away from our inner truth. But when we return to ourselves; our values, our voice, our worth; we reconnect with something unshakable.

I am far from perfect; I am just open to allowing for evolution. Challenges do not happen to us. They rise like tides, in response to the silent prayers we whisper when we think no one is listening. What we fear becomes an embossed invitation. Does poverty stalk you like a starving panther? Do relationships crumble like ancient scrolls, too fragile to hold? Does illness reverberate through your body like crashing cymbals in a symphony gone mad?

These are not punishments. They are portals. They are the universe’s way of saying: “You asked for growth. Here is the path.”

We should not be asking “why”; rather we should be asking “what”. What is this trying to teach me? Enjoy these words of wisdom from other seekers of enlightenment:

“The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.” – Nikos Kazantzakis

“Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.” – Immanuel Kant

“He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened.” – Lao Tzu

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