Category: Blog-Soulful Living

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Name Brands

“I think we need to be friends.”

Those were the first words out of my mouth when I introduced myself to Rev. Hilda Covington. We’d just finished a county meeting of nonprofit mental health and social service agencies. She was the presenter that month.

We almost didn’t meet because Hilda arrived an hour and a half late to a two-hour meeting.

I later learned that Hilda moves through the world in her own time. That meeting was not the first she was late to, nor the last. But she lit up that room when she introduced her agency, SisterHood, or “Sisters in the Hood,” as the founders named themselves when they decided to serve the families in their neighborhood who were often overlooked or dismissed by traditional systems.

I was immediately taken by her light-hearted, warm-hearted, big-hearted way.

Having spent so many years with communities society loves to marginalize, I recognized a kindred spirit. I went up to thank her for her humorous and honest presentation, and those unexpected words just came out. I’m forever grateful they did.

Fast forward 27 years.

By now, I’ve learned to listen when something unexpected tumbles out of my mouth. Time and again, I’ve watched the Soul guide me into the right moment, the right person, the right doorway. You know how that works — the quiet nudge that opens a relationship that reshapes your life and deepens your understanding of yourself and the world.

Becoming friends with Hilda did exactly that.

We live very different lives. Our beliefs about the bigger picture diverge. Our thinking was shaped by very different worlds. Our ways of serving look similar on the outside but arise from distinct lineages and lived experience.

We speak an entirely different language.

I grew up with a felt sense of safety she never had access to. We were raised a generation apart, with differences in race, class, neighborhood, education, and economic stability.

These differences have paved the way for deep, often uncomfortable, always meaningful conversations.

My mother used to tell me a story from when we lived in Germany. I was a preschooler playing in a sandbox with a little girl who spoke an entirely different language. We chattered and played as if we understood every word.

Lunch with Hilda feels like that sandbox.

I walk in unsure what the conversation will bring — seeking her counsel, planning a project, or checking in about a neighborhood need — and I always end up on a winding path through delight, discomfort, insight, and truth.

She shows me the world I cannot see. I do the same for her.

Looking back, the hidden gem of that first encounter was discovering I can enter another’s world without defense.

With Hilda, I could bring both my knowledge and my ignorance.

I could let myself be disturbed without collapsing. I could grow beyond the ideas that once kept me small. I learned to listen past the familiar and allow my Soul to point toward the beliefs that needed to be uprooted.

To be fully accepted — and to offer that same acceptance — is a rare grace.

Despite all our differences, we share the same kind of heart. And thankfully, the same sense of humor. That lightness has carried us through years of challenges, tragedies, and triumphs in her community. It is often through her laughter that my eyes open just a little wider.

A few years ago, I called to wish her a happy birthday. Quarantine had kept us from our lunches, but she was still tending to her community and her flock. (Yes, she’s also a pastor.)

“Kathy! Your people collected so much food!”

Turns out it wasn’t my volunteer contact who told her about our Sidewalk Food Drive. It was the neighborhood.

“Pastor! Your friend delivered food. Name brands!”

I didn’t understand at first.

Hilda laughed and shared story after story about the excitement of receiving name-brand groceries — not the cheap knock-offs typically stocked in dollar stores or donated to poor families. Her joy carried an edge of truth that cut straight through me.

The inequity of our neighborhoods, our expectations, our lived experience landed in my body.

When our call was done, the tears came. Gratitude mixed with heartache.

Another glimpse into a world I don’t live in but care about deeply.

For 27 years, our Soul Sanctuary community has supported SisterHood families in countless ways. What started as a small intention — easing the financial burden of economically disadvantaged parents so they could have a little more room to breathe and be with their children — has rippled far beyond anything I imagined.

A bit of relief. A moment of peace. A chance to read, play, or talk together. Small shifts with long-term impact.

I could tell so many stories of how your generosity helped parents and soothed children, but those stories belong to them. What I can say is this:

When you show up for people, they become “your people.” Period.

Next week, my family will deliver a few car loads of toys and gifts to SisterHood volunteers for the Holiday Giving List — 450 children and teens this year.

My basement looks like the North Pole and an Amazon warehouse had a love child.

This Sunday (12/14), we’ll gather at Soul Sanctuary’s Holiday Open House and collect any last-minute gifts you feel called to offer.

Last week, my husband and I took Hilda and another SisterHood founder, Linda, out to celebrate Hilda’s 80th birthday. We laughed, reminisced, and honored the years of shared work, heartbreak, joy, and community.

So as we wrap up this year’s Holiday Gift Drive, please receive the gratitude of Hilda, the SisterHood volunteers, and the families whose lives you touch.

The greatest “brand name” you can offer another human being is to call them sister or brother — to recognize their belonging in your human family.

For every way you show up, in any neighborhood, for any people, in your own authentic way,

Thank you.

The world needs exactly what you bring.

Keep giving.

 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

“Recreational companionship” gives a boost to those on both the giving and receiving end. This phrase, coined by Willard F Harley Jr, PhD, combines two very important human needs: having fun and having someone to share it with. If you like rock climbing and your bestie enjoys knitting, you’re probably searching for a middle ground. Explore this concept with your family, friends, and colleagues. Find those activities which others also find intriguing, fun, or worth a try. Doing something interesting together can boost your sense of belonging, active the feel good chemicals, and create some lovely memories (and funny stories!). Communication, creativity, and a sense of adventure go a long way. Enjoy

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Uncertainty. A Traveling Companion

When standing at a crossroad in your life, it’s natural to seek answers.

To search for certainty about your next steps. To want assurance that the decision you are making will lead you in the right direction, with the best possible outcome.

So you think through the pros and cons. You talk with trusted people. You consider expert advice. You scroll the web and social media for guidance. Maybe you even check in with your own heart and soul.

And still, you can’t know exactly where this choice will lead you.

Eventually, after all the thinking and seeking, there comes a moment when it’s just you and this one guest that refuses to leave: Uncertainty.

The two of you sit quietly together, perhaps over a cup of tea.

You feel the mix of discomfort and excitement. The longing for clarity. The ache to know for sure that everything will work out beautifully.

But as you spend time with Uncertainty, something unexpected happens.

Your anxiety softens.
Your mind loosens its grip.
Your Heart begins to speak.

Quieter now, more spacious, you can hear the subtle conversation unfolding between your Heart and this mysterious companion.

They talk about the wonder of discovery and the potential for extraordinary growth.

Your Heart remembers the countless times you’ve navigated challenges with grace, strength, and grit.

Uncertainty gently reminds your Heart to trust itself completely.

Together, they soothe the body.

Worry loosens. New possibilities flicker. A different kind of courage rises.

Somehow, without trying, your Heart and Uncertainty become allies — fellow adventurers in this next chapter of your life.

And as the two of them finish their tea and begin packing for the journey ahead, your Heart notices an extra bag sitting nearby. It’s already packed and glowing softly.

“Who owns that bag?” your Heart asks.

“Oh, that one?” Uncertainty smiles.

“It’s for your Soul. Whenever you wander beyond the edge of the known, your Soul insists on coming along — offering its light, its wisdom, and its quiet reassurance.”

Your Heart relaxes, remembering the truth it keeps forgetting:  You never walk alone.

So you gather yourself.
Take a breath.
Feel your feet on the ground.

You may not know what this path will look like, but you trust your companions — Heart, Soul, and even Uncertainty. Especially Uncertainty.

With a little spark in your step, you begin.

Not because you know exactly where you’re going,
but because everything you need is already within you. 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

When life is hard or problems seem insurmountable, it’s a good time to play, dance, or just get your body pumping.  Giving your brain space to organize and seek a solution. Reducing stress hormones, boosting endorphins, sharpening memory, and jumpstarting creativity.  Especially in the midst of personal, social, and global disruption, play is more important than ever.  Grab your hoola hoop, take a jog with the dog, or dance in your kitchen.  Play will boost your mood and build resilience.

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The Art of Nourishment


Life has a rhythm. It speeds up and slows down according to mysterious forces.

Your personal rhythm dances with the celestial bodies, seasons of the year, developmental phases, and the pulse of your Soulful evolutionary process. Living in harmony with these rhythms is in many ways hard to understand as it is a complicated and deeply personal process.

Your rhythm dances with everyone’s rhythm in the grand Cosmic Dance.

There is a Way of living in harmony, ease, and joy. Yet, most people in society have lost their rhythm and, thus, the wisdom of how to flow harmoniously each day.

No one is to blame here. It’s a natural side effect of technological and societal progress.

Most of you are living in comfortable homes, commuting on well established roadways or railways or airways, purchasing food and clothing from big box stores, and having anything delivered (quickly) to your door. Electric lights, 9-5 work days, 24 hour connectivity, news accessible at your fingertips, and a polluted environment has disconnected you from nature and the natural rhythms.

All of this has you moving fast. Perhaps thinking fast. Feeling fast. Eating fast. Relating fast. Getting bored fast.

The requirements of living, working, playing, and achieving as fast paced humans leaves little time for noticing Life’s natural rhythms.

Let along moving in sync with them.

When you move at a fast pace or spend your slow times recovering with social media or streaming shows, you don’t perceive the information the Cosmos is offering you.

You miss the clues and invitations that support the cultivation of a vital life imbued with meaning and joy.

When you’re dancing in tune with Life’s rhythms, you recognize when to dream, create, and produce. And when to rest, receive, and rejuvenate.

Life holds all speeds and levels of intensity. You’ve experienced this continuum.

At times, you’re drinking out of a fire hose there is so much going on. Other times, you are floating down the lazy river without a care nor desire in the world. And all things in between.

When you’re consciously aware of the rhythm, you join in with awareness since you understand how to dance.

Yet, when you’re moving within the societal schedule of movement, production, and achievement (in every category of living), you’re typically out of sync with the natural rhythm. So times of intensity may be too stressful and slowness may leave you bored or uncomfortably feeling you should be doing something productive.

Imagine if you were so in tune with your own being as part of the Earthly and Cosmic ecosystem that you knew when to move or still.

You’d recognize when to dream in unison with your Soul, create from the fire in your belly, or slowly savor the beauty of everyday existence. You’d know when it is time to replenish a tired system, strengthen a personal relationship, or explore a new area of learning.

The clues or signposts Life always offers would be bright and easy to read so your path was clear, enjoyable, and, dare I say, magical.

How then do you return to noticing and living in sync with the Soulful intersection of your personal rhythm and that of Life? It requires deep nourishment, stepping off the mind numbing treadmill, and leaving the box of habitual living.

It begins with you and you can begin right now. One simple breath gets you through that doorway.

The Art of Nourishment (downloadable pdf) offers gentle guidance about how to reconnect with yourself, your Soul, and the rhythm of the natural world.

A practice of deep nourishment leads you back to yourself and the capacity to be present in the moment and in the environment you are residing in or moving through. With intent, youmay wee use the minutes, hours, days, or weekends to enhance your lived sense of realignment and rejuvenation.

Remember this important truth: you’re always wise, intuitive, and connected to the pulse of Life. You’re likely just too busy living a certain way to notice.

Society (and every expert) can always tell you how to behave and what is normal. Living that way is a rhythm buster for sure. Yet, what way of living is right for you? The wise one residing within knows this answer if you give her/him/them a chance to emerge.

Begin with 30 seconds or 1 minute. Practice building your nourishing attentiveness to yourself in the moment and environment you’re actually in. 5 minutes. 1 hour. 1 day. 1 weekend.

Imagine that. Small practices creatively applied throughout each day lead to a shedding mind numbing, body tiring, and Soul tightening habits. Awakening you to a spacious exploration of your interaction with self, other, time, place, dreams, and limits.

There is no set path, practice, or prescription that works magically for everyone.

A few key components such as slowing down, engaging curiosity, reconnecting with nature, inviting self enjoyment, communing with the Sacred, and exploring what feels good or right for you are important. Even these vary person by person or day by day for an individual.

Think of this as more of a game in the neighborhood than a goal oriented work task. Have fun. Explore something new.

Stepping out of habitual living and societal conditioning doesn’t mean you quit your job, miss your kid’s soccer games, or forget to feed your family.

Rather, it’s the embarking upon a free for all discovery of what brings you into a sense of vital aliveness, sense of wonder, deep peace, loving exchange, and enthusiasm for the moment however magical or mundane.

The Art of Nourishment (downloadable pdf) is a simple list of suggestions for when you have just a few moments or longer to explore where the practice of deep connection with self, others, nature, and Life Itself may lead you.

In time, you’ll begin to notice the synchronistic invitation to dance with what is meant for you.

As the song says, I hope you dance.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Your brain likes to meditate. Silent contemplation, or simply closing your eyes and breathing, activates neural pathways that support calm. These pathways underlie beneficial traits such as feeling present, grateful, and steady. With meditation you can deliberately stimulate that circuitry and bring such experience into awareness. Activating calm, steadfastness, and contentment within your body actually converts those experiences into lasting change in neural structure and function.

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Building Cathedrals

How’s your perspective these days? 



Especially in the midst of upheaval in this country, famine and war in the world, and an unbelievable swing toward hatred, greed, and cruel behavior. That is before you consider your everyday stress or the big challenges your and your loved ones may be facing.

When stress rises, perspective shrinks. 

It’s the brain’s natural response to survival signals.

You hyper focus on essentials like food, funds, work, and family (unless you’re ready to toss your family out the window, but that’s another story. Hang in.)

This contraction is understandable. Yet, the invitation is to remember to take a breath, soothe your system, and connect to the wisdom within and beyond you.

The Self Soothe System is free and available to assist you. Get that free resource here on my site here.


When your system is disorganized, harmony is unavailable. 

The Soul’s vision becomes cloudy. So the first move, always, is to harmonize. To come into coherence. Then you can see more, know more, and be more. This matters, not only for you, but for all of us in this interconnected family.

From this Soulful perspective, beautiful questions arise:

What am I learning? 

How may I grow, mature, evolve during this challenge?

What might I offer others without compromising my own wellbeing?

What is asking to be healed within me so I can transcend the smaller story of my life?

That last question – it’s a big one. In the midst of this turmoil, your patterns are likely activating.

Perhaps you may view your vulnerability as your Inner Healer trying to catch your attention. Once you’ve soothed the stress response, you’re more likely to become curious.

More Beautiful Questions arise:


What belief or pattern is creating this tension?

Do I want to carry it or is it ready to be released?

Am I carrying burdens that aren’t even mine? 

Am I still listening to that societal voice that tells me I have to hustle and achieve to be worthy (such a silly idea, but we’ve all been snookered)?

This moment is potent and rich with possibility.

So, do the work with yourself, a friend, a mentor, or a celestial ally.

You may be just fine right now as you read these words with a full belly, safe house, cell phone, and a few dollars in the bank. But, don’t miss this energetically charged moment because there’s something deeper waiting to be freed — something beautiful.

Recently I recalled receiving a strong perspective jolt (mini lightning strike) during the pandemic. (Remember that crisis and how we weathered it together?)

I had come across a youtube video of Andrea Bocelli’s Concert of Hope. In the isolation of quarantine, he stood before the massive Duomo Cathedral in Milan. 



Singing. Alone. To the world.

His voice carried across silence, through distance, across grief and hope. His open heart awakened hearts across the globe. Tears. Prayer. Awe. Beauty. Google it and you’ll see the image. 



Tiny human. Massive Cathedral.

Humans have built cathedrals to the Divine for millennia. Imagine it: a Soul envisions a Sacred monument. Artists, funders, and masons gather. Grandfathers, sons, grandsons labor generation after generation to honor something greater than themselves.

A cathedral was sparked by a simple person who was moved by a Divine impulse.

Infused with imagination and devotion, they gathered others to build something magnificent for others to inherit.

It humbles me every time every time I see a cathedral. A sense of majesty that unfurls when you widen your view.

When you open your heart to the mythic operating within the mundane. When you honor your vulnerability and your magnificence. Both together as one Sacred human journey.

When you let your Soul move you, everything changes.

Andrea Bocelli, a tiny human with a huge voice, offered hope his way. This is what generous beauty does. It wakes you up and returns your focus to what matters. It’s a good time to wake up to what deeply matters and ask the beautiful questions that lead you to offer your song to the world.

By the time you’re reading this, I’ve flown into Milan and traveled to the Temples of Humankind in Damanhur, Italy.

Here, I’m committed to listening to both my Soul and my stress. 



I’m going to walk amongst the builders of another epic cathedral buried deep within a mountain. Over 45 years ago, one idea sparked 70 people in the Damanhur community to create the inexplicable and make the impossible possible. I’ve walked in the Temples of Humankind which are dedicated to awakening the Divinity in all people and honoring every wisdom tradition. It’s extraordinary and inspiring. 



I’m grateful to bring the Q’ero shamans from Peru to Damanhur so they may add their magic, ceremony, vision, and love to the Temples, Crystal Labyrinth Project, and Damanhurian community.

I’ll walk in silence upon and within that place of power so that I may listen and perceive the mythic story that wants to birth through me.

Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, I’m committed to building cathedrals, not walls. I hope you join me in that idea, however you do it.

And a reminder. Breathe and soothe your system when life gets inexplicable and overwhelming.

If you need support, ask for it. Reach out to me, to someone. Don’t go it alone. Not now. The world needs harmonized people in tune with their inner wisdom and open to the Divine Spark that may launch a simple action or a magnificent project.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Have you read Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It puts generational cathedral building in perspective. Story style. What are you creating for your great, great grandchildren?  Just a thought. I’m full of ideas. Perhaps we’ll build together. 

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Conscious Living. Sacred Dying.

There are conversations you may instinctively avoid. Death. Dying. The journey beyond are among them.

The final exhale. The closing of the body. The long walk home. The next place of being. In many ancient traditions, this is not an ending, but a sacred passage—a birth into new realms of being. Yet here, in this fast-moving world, death often remains veiled in silence, wrapped in fear, and avoided in conversation.

Yet what if these were not endings to fear, but sacred thresholds for you to consciously walk?

What if the mystery that awaits you was approached with the same reverence you might offer to birth?


What if you could soften the edges of this inevitable passage—through understanding, preparation, and relationship with the luminous beings who accompany you?

This September, Soul Sanctuary welcomes Gene Ang back for a profound weekend immersion: Death, Dying & the Afterlife Training (September 6–8, 2025, in person and on Zoom).

Gene is a rare teacher.

With decades spent exploring the landscapes of consciousness, he weaves together shamanic traditions, mystical frameworks, and meditative practices into something deeply grounded and profoundly transformative. His teachings offer you a compassionate space to explore your relationship with dying—not as a final collapse, but as an initiatory passage into a greater reality.

This is not a weekend of theory.

This is a weekend of initiation—a call to live awake, to meet the unfathomable with reverence, and to remember that you are always accompanied by grace.

During this training, Gene offers you an invitation (with plenty of support) to explore death consciously, your own and that of those you love, so you may release the silence and fear that often surround death.

He offers practical and energetic tools with meditations, journeys, and spiritual structures that prepare your soul for its next great adventure.

You’ll sit in council with life and death. You’ll lift the veil, prepare for the most profound of crossings—consciously, courageously, and with grace.

Gene will guide your meetings with the unseen allies, angelic presences and luminous guides, who walk with you between the worlds. You’ll learn to journey beyond the body and explore the bardos, the in-between states mapped by spiritual and shamanic traditions. You’ll learn how to soothe both heart and mind, using meditations and energetic practices to bring comfort—to yourself, to loved ones, or to any soul in need of compassionate guidance. And discover how to assist transitioning souls through the sacred practice of Soul conduction.

And in doing this work, you’ll discover a paradoxical gift.

That in preparing for death, you begin to live more fully. You walk the earth lighter, more present, rooted in love.

This training is for you if you feel called to meet death with clarity and courage. Whether you are an elder, caregiver, nurse, hospice worker, or simply a soul ready to transform fear into reverence, you are welcome.

You do this work not only to prepare for death, yours or another’s, but to live more fully now. To hold your life, and all lives, with tenderness as you walk this world with deeper trust—knowing you are held, even as you prepare to cross into what comes next.

What if preparing for death is the most radical way to live?


You soften to mystery. You listen more deeply. You walk more tenderly.
Life becomes luminous when you realize it is not forever.

Come with an open heart. Come ready to explore, to remember, to live more fully, more consciously, more connected.

All details and registration may be found on my Workshop Page. 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

The final breath is not an end, but a return. A sacred passage into the arms of the Infinite. Can you imagine meeting it with peace? With grace?

You are not alone when you cross the threshold. Ever. Angelic allies, spirit guides, and luminous presences walk with you.
There is light on both sides of the veil.Facing death doesn’t take life away—it gives it back. When you walk consciously with the Mystery,
every moment becomes sacred.

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I Am A Dog

I was playing the game “Headbands” with my dog the other day.

You may have played the game with your kids. You choose a card with an image and statement “I am a …..”. Sticking it upon your ‘headband’ facing others, your playmates offer clues and you have to guess what you are in the moment.

Playing board games and interactive games like charades are good fun.


They engage humans without screens, encourage positive social interaction, activate the creative brain, and produce feel good chemicals via lots of laughter.

Given my kid has flown the coop, we hoodwinked our dog to play a rousing game of Headbands with us. We even let Milo choose the first card, but he seemed to have a hard time guessing what his card said. 

Australian Shepards are supposed to be smart, so I wasn’t sure why he was having such a hard time.

He played the game well as he sought clues in the yes/no answers to his questions.  “Am I an animal?  Do I have four legs?  Do I chase balls?  Do I  live with a great family?”  Yet he couldn’t seem to grasp the correct answer … “I am a dog.”  I thought maybe he was losing his mojo. 

Then he looked at me with that all knowing gaze and I finally got it.  He was beyond smart. 

He was wise. Playing the game while knowing the whole time it was a "game."

So when he asked me the next question “Am I the infinite, interconnected, harmonious flow of energy that many call LOVE also know as the fabric of the Universe?”  I simply said yes.

We stopped playing the game at that point. 

Instead we walked outside marveling at the how the natural world was waking up in unison as if it knew exactly what to do and how to do it.  I had plenty of time to notice the sights, smells, colors, and surprises as he frequently stopped to “smell the roses” and water everything else.  It was really more of a meander than a walk. I recognized that I experienced more of nature’s gifts with him than walking on my own.  So wise, this D-O-G. 

Sometimes he surprises me. Like the day he taught me that sweet treats are to be shared.

I thought my frozen yogurt was safe in the middle of the coffee table, yet I forgot how quickly those paws could jump up. My miss was his reward as he enjoyed the top half of my dessert. When I suggested his behavior was unappreciated, Milo gave me the side eye and wandered off to enjoy his sugar crash in his comfy cabin.

I also appreciate how Milo demonstrates how to Be in the Now. 

Eckhart Tolle has nothing on him when I walk in the door to be greeted as if I appeared out of thin air.  What a celebration of the miracle of “walking in” to a new scene … a new moment.  The energy is contagious and I totally understand why dogs wag their tails and people spontaneously speak that sing song voice offered to babies and pets.  When I return to the car to get my last bag and return 15 seconds later to the same response, I don’t know whether to value the ability to be truly and delightfully present or check for dementia. 
 
Just when I think I know something, Milo reminds me that not everything is as it seems. 

Like when he quizzes me on the nature of reality with questions like “what is real?” and “who am I really?”  I just never know what “game” he will come up with next. After our rousing game of Headbands, Milo suggested I meditate upon the nature of anagrams. Hmmmm. D-O-G. That explains a lot.

One thing I know for sure, I have a lot to learn from that wise being I thought was a dog. 

 

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Turn off those screens. Game playing as a family enhances wellbeing and the potential for creative navigation through life. Game playing indoors or racing around for a hilarious game of hide and seek develops “soft skills” which improve social navigation, creative problem solving, and working together as a team. Collaboration, delayed gratification, emotional intelligence, and ingenuity are only some of these soft skills which support success in formal education and workplaces. As the brain has the potential to change and grow through the lifespan, game playing which includes enthusiasm, learning new skills, creativity, and laughter are good medicine.

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Support the Crystal Labyrinth Project

As you celebrated the Summer Solstice and the New Moon this past week, our beloved shamans who are South of the Equator were celebrating the Winter Solstice in Cusco, Peru.

Inti Raymi, the Festival of the Sun, takes place on June 24th to commemorate the beginning of the Inca New Year and the Winter Solstice. Originating in the 15th century by Emperor Pachakuti, Inti Raymi was created as major Inca festival to honor the sun god Inti.

Today, the festival honors Inca heritage with traditional costumes, ceremonies, dances, and vibrant music.

Large celebrations embody Peru’s cultural identity in a bridge from past to present time. The primary celebrations for Peruvians and visitors take place in Cusco’s Plaza de Armas, Coricancha (Temple of the Sun), and the Sacsayhuaman Fortress (Lightning Temple).

I’ve sat in Cusco’s main square, wandered through the Coricancha, and communed with the massive, mysterious stones at Sacsayhuaman.

It adds a layer of special appreciation to the celebration of the Northern Summer Solstice knowing my brothers and sisters to the South are dancing in ceremony. 

I received beautiful photos and videos from Pascual which shared a gathering of shamans high in the mountains. Blue tents, dusted with snow, scattered about the stark mountain side. The young men dancing in ceremony adorned with the symbols of the Inca and the medicine gifts they carry.

Pascual playing his role as an elder and medicine man in the Q’ero tradition.

Every month I receive photos or videos of ceremony high in the Peruvian mountains. Pascual, his wife Santusa, his son, and others who climb to the rarified air to honor Pachamama and pray with the Apus (mountain spirits) and etheric lineages. They pray for harmony for the Earth, for humanity, and for all creatures great and small.

They pray for you as they consider the extended family of Soul Sanctuary and the beautiful people who gathered last summer with them for the Seeding of the Light Gathering. 



Pascual and Santusa with their translator, Jose Tomas, are traveling to Damanhur with a group in September to participate in the Crystal Labyrinth Project.

Damanhur’s Crystal Labyrinth radiates harmony and wisdom deposited by indigenous medicine people from around the world.

When asked to travel to Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind to participate in the Crystal Labyrinth Project, the shamans were guided to make the journey.

To explore the power of the mountain, and the Temples hidden within, where four synchronic lines intersect. They’ll engage in ceremony for the benefit of Pachamama and humanity in the foothills of the Italian Alps, waterfalls, and sacred land of Damanhur.

Pascual and Santusa will download the balanced masculine and feminine wisdom garnered from living the Q’ero tradition of the medicine person.

Damanhur was created to dream a new timeline and way of being for the planet. A way of harmony, sustainable stewardship, and respectful relationships with all beings. Now is a time to join and anchor this dream of harmony across the globe as destructive policies, behavior, and rhetoric fill the airwaves.

You can join in support of the Crystal Labyrinth Project which radiates harmony, love, and wisdom throughout the world.

It takes a village to fund the shamans journey to Damanhur and together we’ve identified a way for you and your family to be remembered in ceremony with the shamans.

An Ayni Despacho and fire ceremony will be held in the high mountains of Peru in August and in the Italian foothills in September. During each ceremony, all who have contributed to the shamans’ journey will be remembered. Photos of the ceremonies will be shared with all who have contributed to this group project.

You may learn more about the Crystal Labyrinth Project and how you may contribute to this dream of harmony HERE.

The Crystal Labyrinth page has a flyer and graphics that you may download to share amongst those you know who would be willing to support these shamans. You are invited to share the web link or to download any of the material and share on your own social media platforms.

I have a fond memory of Pascual driving through New Jersey or exploring new places. His enthusiastic “Wow!” accompanied by a big smile and spontaneous flute playing warms my heart. I look forward to sharing the Temples of Humankind with our Peruvian friends, and all of the Journeyers, as they live up to the description as The 8th Wonder of the World. 



Please consider making this dream possible and assisting me in bringing Pascual, Santusa, and Jose Tomas to Peru. Your contribution matters deeply and I am most grateful.

The Crystal Labyrinth Project page has all of the details. Feel free to reach out directly with any questions or if you’re interested in traveling to Damanhur with us.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

“Superman memory crystals” are the size of a coin and can store up to 360 terabytes of data. This advanced technique consist of nanoscale dots embedded by a laser in layers of quarts. This data is encoded in 5 dimension including 3D placement, orientation, and size. Texts such as the Bible, stored in a quarter size crystal, are found to be stable up to 1000 degrees Celsius. Theoretically, that information can last for 14 billion years at room temperature. Science hasn’t (yet) proven that intent can transfer wisdom into a crystal, I imagine Damanhur’s Crystal Spiral Labyrinth is the perfect experiment to radiate indigenous wisdom throughout the cosmos.

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How to Keep your Heart Open

These past months have been filled with confusion, anger, and fear for many in this country.

Witnessing deportations without due process, assaults on the courts and universities, flip flopping tariffs, and military action have shaken the foundational sense of safety and justice for many Americans.

I’ve been listening to you and engaging in many conversations about how to live in balance during these times.

When the world seems hostile, disrespectful, and unsafe, it’s a really good time is to explore how to navigate with sturdiness, skill, and soul. 

Soul first.

What’s the highest ideal that guides you? Perhaps love, compassion, generosity, or kind understanding? Whatever has guided you thus far is important in this moment of history. The challenge is how you apply that ideal in a practical manner through your energy, thoughts, words, and deeds.

When you’re hair’s on fire or you’re shaking under the covers, it might be a challenge to view people or situations who trigger you with compassion. That’s understandable. 

So body next.

Remember how important it is to breathe. Deep, slow breaths. Long exhales to calm the nervous system. Square breathing. However you choose to practice breathing will be helpful.

Soothing your nervous system with the power of HeartBreathing brings you into greater organization. This means you’ve got full access to the wisdom of your brains (gut, heart, head). Allowing you to return to a centered, calm state to determine how to proceed. This supports emotional regulation so you can tolerate what you’re facing. [The Self Soothe Strategy guides you through this.]

Where’s your mind focusing?

If you’re reactive to the many media news streams (including your inner dialogue or friend’s opinion), it’s easy to get distracted and dysregulated. Frustration and fear love a reactive mind. So does the opposition or whomever you’re getting all riled up with.  

When your mind-body is organized, it’s easier to choose your focus. The intent to do your best as you move through the day with an open heart and strong self care supports your potential to bring compassion, generosity, or love to your interactions. 

Connection. Communication. CommUnity.

Look to those who bring comfort and feel sturdy to you. Connect with others who can engage in conversations that explore without demonizing. Support one another with care and consideration as you process your feelings or concerns. 

If you’re in a family, friend group, or work space where folks think very differently than you or are reactive, it might not be the best place to explore your differences. However, when you’re able to have an honest conversation with those who view situations differently than you, seek to understand them.

Bridging divides in perception, opinion, or lifestyle requires openness and a true desire to put yourself in another’s place. 

Do your best to become peaceful in your mind, body, and emotions. So your interactions throughout the day broadcast peace. Explore where acceptance, understanding, generosity, and forgiveness may be responses that support, empower, and heal. What you choose to share in today’s unrest really matters in everyday interactions. Don’t underestimate the impact of small ripples. Just make a lot of the positive kind all day long.

As the country becomes polarized, seek to keep your mind and heart open.

How do you keep your heart open in hell?

Here’s some advice from a wise man in tune and in balance with feminine wisdom.

I receive succor in this higher understanding of how to be in a world that holds so much pain, destruction, and beauty. 

This may help you explore how to live in the world and keep your heart open. To choose to be spiritually focused without losing touch with your humanity. Herein lies guidance for action that is balanced, coming from a perspective that there is harmony to the implicate and explicate order of the universe. And your experience within it. 

I discovered the wisdom of Ram Dass after he passed. 

I’ve learned a lot from the documentaries about his life and his talks. He offers a richness packed into a few minutes or hours that often left me more willing to live in this beautiful, horrible world with a heart that stays open.

Plus, I like how he talks like a calm, happy hippie. Words like “far out, cool, and groovy” bring me back to my high school days.

Ram Dass taught about courage, how to sit with pain and grief, encouraging an experience of hope within despair, and offered an invitation to face death consciously. He demonstrated what a heart wide open looks like in a person who is clearly human. 

Imagine a country filled with hearts that want to stay open. 

No matter what side of any situation you find yourself on, I wonder if you could begin with calming your body and opening your heart and mind. Every choice, every ripple matters. 

You’ll find the link to Ram Dass’ talk in the HeartWarming News below.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Ram Dass’ talk led me to a creative, cool resource: the After Skool channel on youtube. I found some of my favorite teachers there. Listening to their voices while the concepts were illustrated artfully. It’s a visual delight. The intent of this channel is to empower individuals to shift their inner world with artistic presentations of profound thinkers. The idea that the world changes when your internal world changes is not new. It IS empowering and shared by mystics, physicists, and medicine men and women. Here’s the link for How to Keep your Heart Open in Hell by Ram Dass. Next up for me? Allan Watts. He probably says groovy too.

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Cosmic Alchemy. Making the Impossible Possible.

In September, I’m returning to the Temples of Humankind in Damanhur, Italy. It feels like an understatement to claim that this is a place of power, mystery, and majesty.

Yet, I’ve found this to be true for myself and those I’ve met who’ve traveled within the extraordinary to the Temples and the community of Damanhur. All of this was founded on such lofty dreams that they are almost unbelievable, yet there is a thriving community of 50 years which suggests otherwise.

Every component of the Damanhurian physical structures, philosophy, spiritual practices, businesses, and community living are built around an intention to empower the reawakening of humanity.

So all beings may recognize their Divine nature, activate their extraordinary potential, communicate directly with the cosmic wisdom, and participate in living in harmony with nature and one another.

It sounds lofty, familiar even, given such intentions are shared by many people on the planet. “Now is the time and we are the ones.” That is sentiment for some, an intellectualized idea for others, and a daily commitment to engage an innovative, radically new way of being for a few.

Damanhur was founded by Oberto Airaudi, known as Falco, who also served as their spiritual guide until his death in 2012.

Not viewed as a guru, but rather a man who had reawakened ancient memories, researched alchemical technology, and encouraged others to awaken inner mastery through study, research, shedding the societal conditioning, and expressing their higher human potential.

There are many fantastical stories I could share about Falco and what he and many Damanhurians have achieved. That’s the type of discovery and mastery I’m talking about. It’s fantastical and apparently quite possible. If you’re interested in journeying to Damanhur with me in September, you’re going to hear about AND witness manifestations of these stories.

Falco was 10 years old when he had a vision of a new civilization with extraordinary temples at the center of the dream. (What were you dreaming up when you were 10?)

As he grew, Falco remembered ancient knowledge, experimented as a healer, artist, philosopher, and alchemist, and explored the potential for bringing this dream into form. In other words, he explored how to make the impossible possible.

This vision grew over time and Falco traveled the world to places of power, such as Japan, Africa, Peru, and India, looking for the perfect place to build this Temple which would serve as an antennae and magnifier for cosmic communication. It would also serve to enhance other sacred structures built upon power places, such as the pyramids, Machu Picchu, and Stonehenge, and connect all more strongly to the cosmos.

Falco was seeking the intersection of four Synchronic Lines. These are described as rivers of energy that spiral horizontally and vertically within the planet and around the poles to link Earth with the galaxy.

Imagine these as spiraling cosmic super highways carrying spiritual energy known as dreams, intuition, creative ideas, and ways of thinking across the universe. A complex, multidimensional communication across planets and celestial bodies sharing information and enhancing potential.

Falco found two places in the world where 4 synchronic lines intersected.

One in the Himalayan mountains and the other in the Valchiusella valley and foothills of the Italian Alps. Interestingly enough, this valley was just North of Falco’s birthplace of Turin.

In 1978, a small group of Damanhurians began constructing the Temples of Humankind within the mountain.

By hand and in secret, they built where 4 Synchronic Lines intersect within the black asteroidal mylonite inside the mountains. Governmental geologists later described this strong foundation as some of the oldest formations on the planet, formed when Earth’s original mantle congealed.

One by one, 9 halls were dug within the mountain. Alchemical metals, sacred geometry, hidden doors, energetic circuitry, sacred symbology, and artistic depictions created a wonder to behold.

As Falco intended, the Temples of Humankind and so many aspects of Damanhurian life reveal what a shared dream, positive outlook, and expanding human potential can create. These discoveries go beyond what is deemed possible by society and elevate all who enter.

The Temples may be described as a living library, a three dimensional history of humanity, a modern cathedral honoring all wisdom traditions, a portal to the cosmic intelligence, and an alchemical vehicle. All of which acknowledges the preciousness and potential inherent within all humans.

Whatever descriptors are used, I know one thing to be true. When you enter the Temples of Humankind you realize all of this and more. The Temples, the Sacred Woods, the circuits, the open temple, the Crystal Spiral Labyrinth, and the powerful land offer you far more than words can depict.

I could speak for hours about Damanhur and only scratch the surface of what is happening there.

The Temples provide the cosmic power to activate an alchemical process so powerful that you’ll rapidly evolve your individual human potential.

The depth and breadth of this transformation is hard to define.

I’m still unpacking the impact of my first stay at Damanhur over 15 years ago. And I’m in the midst of what’s unfolding from my recent immersion and participation in ceremonies, healings, and journeys within the Temples.

I’m bringing two groups to Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind in September, 2025 for an extraordinary adventure of a lifetime.

These are immersive journeys of awakening and designed to launch your spiritual evolution and practical engagement with life with new levels of power, harmony, and love. You’ll be offered experiences and access that are not available to those visiting for a tour of the Temples. In partnerships with many Damanhurians, I’ve curated these marvelous adventures to supercharge your joyful engagement with life, spiritual evolution, and personal service to this lovely, beleaguered planet.

The first Mystical Adventure of Awakening accelerates Spiritual Awakening and Visionary Dreaming. September 3 – 11, 2025.

The first Journey is for you if you’re lighthearted and serious about your spiritual evolution and ready to dive way deeper into the Mystery. Personal healing, empowering service for others, fulfilling dreams, becoming a change agent are just part of what is possible for you. Whatever you think is waiting for you, I’ll tell you that more is in store.

The second Mystical Adventure invites you to engage in Visionary Dreaming with the Master Shamans from Peru. September 12 – 19, 2025

This is for you if you’re a shamanic practitioner, mesa carrier, or Munay Ki Practitioner who is ready to evolve their path, strengthen their unique medicine, and accelerate your vision how to share your gifts with the world. You’ll be traveling with the Peruvian shamans and learning advanced shamanic practices and ceremonies and receiving the Munay Ki activations known as the high rites.

Both groups are participating in the Crystal Spiral Labyrinth Project.

The Damanhurians built a crystal spiral labyrinth with crystals from all over the world. For the past 10 years, indigenous shamans have come to the crystal spiral to encode or download their living wisdom into the crystal associated with their tradition and land. We are privileged to participate in this project as we bring the masculine and feminine wisdom of the Q’ero Andean Medicine Tradition to Damanhur.

Do yourself a favor. Look at the Journey pages. Let the invitation and energy sink within you. Ask your Soul if you’re called to join.

If yes, even if hesitant for any reason, please reach out and talk with me. If you’re meant to join us, we’ll find a way together to make this happen. I’m happy to send you a video that gives you an even broader experience of this 8th Wonder of the World. Email me directly if you’re interested.

“Make the impossible possible.” This is Damanhur’s mantra and what they live.

I can’t think of a better point in the history of my life than now to explore that promise. Your Soul will let you know if it’s for you. I hope you join me.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Exercise is a form of physical stress. Yet, it helps not only helps relieve stress by reducing stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, it stimulates the body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters known as endorphins. Studies have found improvement in mood, self-image, energy, and discipline. It has been found to improve resilience in the face of challenge. Movement or exercise that is enjoyable is more likely to become a habit and offer sustainable positive benefits throughout the lifespan.

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Blown Away by the Temples of Humankind

One cool Spring morning, I stepped on the treadmill at the gym looking forward to walking a few miles.

Recovering from an injury, I had to walk at a moderate pace so I had brought my copy of What Is Enlightenment? magazine to explore. This was a while back when magazines were still common (April-June issue, 2007) before everything was offered on your phone. I always found something to inspire me within this publication focused upon consciousness, culture, and cosmos.

I was intrigued by the theme of that issue: “Searching for Utopia. Exploring humanity’s timeless quest for heaven earth.”

A cover always offers a hint of what’s inside and I immediately focused upon “The Story of Damanhur: Unearthing the Secrets of a Thriving Utopian Experiment.” I figured the world could benefit from knowledge gained from a “thriving experiment.” So could I.

“Atlantis in the mountains of Italy.” Well, okay, that was not quite what I expected.

“What would you say if I told you there was a place nestled in the foothills of the Italian Alps …. where dreams are not just for children, and magic has not yet gone from the world? … A placed where men and women live together in harmony with the land and in tune with the cosmos …. It is a place washed by mysterious energies … [where] all walk the paths of a university dedicated to the quest for esoteric knowledge and the spiritual advancement of humankind…..”

“Yes,” I breathed. “I’d say yes, please.”

I then turned the page and was blown backwards off the treadmill.

The power that emanated from the two page photo spread lifted and blew my body back. I managed to hit the emergency stop button, landed on my knees on the back of the belt, and was unceremoniously deposited on the floor. Tears were running down my face, not from pain, but from recognition that something truly important was before me.

People ran to help me. Lifting me with concern and asking if I was hurt.

Still vibrating with this power, I felt their concern like hope for the future. Where people lived in harmony and cared deeply for one another’s wellbeing. I felt wrapped in power, love, and care. I was able to say a few words to reassure them I was good and thank them.

There was no self consciousness nor any need to explain that my Soul had just received an invitation of enormous magnitude.

That it was crystal clear and fully received even though I had no idea what that invitation actually was.

My knees hurt a bit and my back was tender from the jolting, but more than anything I wanted to enter the path laid before me.

So, I wiped my tears, blew my nose, and stepped back on that treadmill into the mystery before me.

By the time I was done reading that article (twice), I knew I was journeying to The Temples of Humankind in Damanhur, Italy.

I spent 8 days in Damanhur. I immersed myself in their philosophy, was activated by the Temples, walked the power circuits, created art, engaged with the mystical harmonious people who lived there, and slept one night in the Temples.

In Damanhur, I discovered those mysterious energies, ingenious beauty, incredible power, direct access to the cosmos, synchronistic magic, and pervading harmony. And it changed me.

Not the kind of inspiring upliftment that comes from a spiritual retreat or holiday in a foreign culture.

I experienced an alchemical transformation that I can now, many years later, track its synchronistic influence and my personal initiatory process.

I could speak for hours about Damanhur, yet after all my preparatory research and an immersive 8 days, I came home knowing very little. I just knew that I had begun (again) that “quest” for esoteric knowledge on the spiral path of spiritual evolution. I turned 50 that summer and entered a decade of deep exploration, excavation, and elevation.

I’m still unpacking all that was given to me those many years ago.

I’ve waited 15 years to return to Damanhur with a group of spiritual seekers who feel a powerful call of their Soul to awaken ancient knowledge, upgrade the LightBody, and directly engage the cosmic healing energy.

The time is now. The way opened for my in my recent visit to Damanhur.

Sitting within the Sacred Woods above the Temples, I received the request to gather a group of serious seekers who were ready to immerse themselves in the magic, power, beauty, harmony, and potential of Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind.

To supercharge their own evolution, activate little know energy structures within their field, communicate directly with the Temples and cosmos, and be seeded with a light so powerful it will take years to unpack the transformation. So that they may return home, plant themselves in their neck of the woods, and offer their unique Soul gifts to a world on fire.

Sounds like a big promise. I know. And a big purpose. I know. I’ve lived it. Twice now.

I’m inviting you to join me for an extraordinary journey within the cosmic mystery via the portals of Damanhur.

Given the nature of my vision when in Damanhur’s Sacred Woods above the Temples, I’ve been able to curate an immersive experience which is overflowing with direct access to all of the Temples, local power spots, special courses, and more.

This Mystical Journey of Awakening to Damanhur and the Temples of Humankind is immersive.

This means it includes so much more than you’d be able to experience if you visited Damanhur and took a tour. This is the clarion call to a few Souls who know this is the time, this is the place, this is the ancient/modern technology, and you are the one being called.

If you’re interested, I’ll first share Damanhur’s tagline. “Make the Impossible Possible.”

I know why they say this. If you join me, you’ll know why as well.

I’ll not say any more here as I’ve created a lovely journey page with all the details (and the energy) of our immersion within this magical, powerful, harmonious place. One caveat, if you want to join me and think you can’t for any reason, don’t stop there. Ask how it is possible for you. Live that question and you may be surprised about what occurs.

I’m running two Journeys to Damanhur in September, 2025.

First up is for you spiritual seekers ready to supercharge your life and Soul mission. Here’s that Journey page.  Second is a Journey with the Peruvian shamans for mesa carriers, shamanic practitioners, and Munay Ki Practitioners. Here’s that Journey page.

I’ll be adding more details and stories in the blogs to come. Stay attuned.

I’m available to have a ZOOM discovery call with you if you’re interested.

“It would be an unsound fancy and self-contradictory to expect that things which have never yet been done can be done except by means which have never been tried.” Francis Bacon.

Read that twice and then ask yourself:

Are you ready to join me in Damanhur and co-creatively dream something new?

Mystical Journey to Damanhur September 3 – 11, 2025

Visionary Dreaming with the Masterful Shamans of Peru in Damanhur September 11 – 19, 2025.

I began my Damanhur journey with a walk upon a treadmill. I wonder how you’ll begin yours? I look forward to sharing that discovery with you.

Peace be with you and with all.  No exceptions. 

HeartWarming

 News

Amplifying prayers, healing, divination, and direct connect with Divinity. What makes a power place a power place? Pilgrimages, miraculous healing, and surprising epiphanies are common occurrences at the world’s sacred sites. These may be identified as Earth’s chakras or spirals, an intersection of ley lines, and a place where humans offer devotional, intentional exchange with the heavens and earth. Those who have explored myth, individual reports, and scientific measurements suggest there is an combination of influences from human intent (devotional interactions), the Earth field, celestial bodies, and the structures built at the sacred site.