Diane

Health, Life, Spirit

For the next stop along my journey, I was interested in meeting with someone who could provide more insight into my medical issues. I went back to the Best Psychic Directory and this time I focused the search for a medical intuitive and booked a session with Diane Hiller.

Since Diane lives in Connecticut, the appointment was held via zoom. I learned that it doesn’t matter if the client is present because it’s all about the energy and a gifted psychic or intuitive can tap into your energy, with your permission, from anywhere in the world. According to the Best Psychic Directory, “during a reading, the medical intuitive will scan your body to see where there might be subtle energy disturbances that often lead to physical pain or ailments.”

The process began by my stating out loud, “I give you access to my energy field” and then I took three deep breaths. She then virtually scanned my entire body, sort of like a virtual MRI. Almost immediately, she picked up on various colors around my body: the colors are her map to what’s happening. She saw the pain in/around my neck, my malfunctioning immune system, my hormone issues, as well as my sadness. Next, she offered several recommendations, based on what she had gotten intuitively and from our conversation.

  1. Check out Genomemedical.com — a website that offers a variety of genetic testing
  2. Testing for the MTFHR gene mutation — a gene mutation that inhibits the body’s use of Folate, which sets off a chain reaction of serious health problems that often lead to a myriad of diseases, including autoimmune and depression
  3. T3-T4 thyroid testing
  4. Hormone Panel — Blood test to determine the levels of Estrogen and Progesterone
  5. Deplin therapy — capsules containing an active form of Folate used mainly for depression
  6. DHEA, D3, Iron, Omega 3 and Turmeric Ultra Supplements

It was evident she was spot on, but I was a bit confused about the diagnostic testing she was suggesting. While I diligently took notes, my mind was feeling a bit of a disconnect; although her ability to “see” my challenges was amazing — I started to doubt if this consultation would be beneficial at a Soul level — which was REALLY what I wanted.

That being said, I believe the majority of my mood issues are directly related to my chronic illnesses and related situations. However, my family does have a history of some mental illness on both sides, so there may be a genetic component as well as the ancestral imprints handed down through the generations. Later I would learn about epigenetics or the scientific finding that genes are not hard-wired but can be and are modified by our environment, both externally and internally, including our thoughts and beliefs; think “Nature vs. Nurture” on steroids. Through my own studying and research I’ve come to understand that it is all intertwined and interconnected.

In 2009, I had extensive thyroid testing, when I began having hot flashes at 39 years old. My levels were “atypical” due to my underlying disease and medications — particularly Prednisone, for which I have been on a low dose for many, many years. Also, as a result of taking Prednisone for so long, I have Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency. This is when the pituitary gland does not send enough hormone to the adrenal glands resulting in low levels of cortisol; an important stress hormone. Therefore, in times of bodily stress, such as a car accident or a surgery, I receive extra Prednisone or my body may go into Adrenal Crisis which can be fatal.

In the end, it was determined the hot flashes were due to Perimenopause which I experienced for 11 years before starting Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) at the end of 2020. As far as the supplements, I take a multivitamin with Iron daily along with a myriad of other prescriptions and at times I’ve added D3 and Omega 3 to the mix, just not consistently.

After the “MRI” scan, I asked her about having another neck surgery to which she answered, “Yes, but put it off til Fall.” (It was later scheduled for Fall!) I asked about my knee — the one that flops back and forth and was hurting more and more, especially with stairs or after walking a while. She said I’d have the surgery sometime around April or May (I had the surgery May 3rd!) She recommended Pool Therapy — now THAT was one suggestion I could whole-heartedly adopt!

Raw Blue Kyanite

After focusing on me, she scanned the environment (our home) and could feel the tension/stress and the energies of my family. She suggested I pick up some Raw Blue Kyanite and Obsidian crystals to help me stay grounded and protect my energy, hence began my interest and education of crystals. She also recommended that I get outside into nature as much as possible. Little did she know, I am a nature lover! She suggested Bergamot, Lavender, and Vetiver Essential Oils (three of my favorites) and the practice of Opposite Nasal Breathing as a calming and centering tool. I was also pleasantly surprised to hear that I have several spirit guides around me.

I explained that I was trying to get to the bottom of my “medical mystery” and that my quest was more of a spiritual nature — more a Why and less of a How. I was hoping to tap into the Cosmos and get the “backstory”, the karmic reason for my health challenges and struggles. To this point, she recommended a colleague of hers, whom she had worked with personally; a gifted intuitive healer that might be able to provide me with some answers. Onward and upward…


Gayle

Life, Spirit

After doing some searching, I stumbled upon a website called Best Psychic Directory. I know it sounds very cheesy, but after looking around the site for a while, I decided it was my best chance. I filtered my search by experience and reviews and read many bios. In January 2021, after a few stops and starts, I connected with Gayle Kirk, a psychic medium from North Carolina.

I met with Gayle via phone. I shared with her a little bit about how I was feeling lately and what I’d been experiencing. She took a few minutes to “connect” with spirit and then communicated what she was sensing. Immediately she connected with my maternal grandma — whom I knew and felt around me in spirit. We were very close and I have such fond memories of her and my time Up-North while growing up.

A photo of Grandma “Millie” at 15 years old sits on my alter and as well an angel she had bought for me years ago. Grandma loved birds and was always whistling away while cooking the best home-made meals in her tiny kitchen or doing the New York Times crossword puzzle out on the covered porch while having a cigarette. This is how I still see her today in my minds eye.

One day – after I had started to connect with her more in spirit, I was driving mindlessly and all of the sudden I smelled cigarette smoke in the car. The windows were up and none of us smoke. I instantly knew it was her — going along for a ride with me! She sends me beautiful red cardinals also. Several times over the past couple of years, if I’m having a particularly difficult day, I’ll look outside my kitchen window or out the bedroom window and there he is — all alone — just sitting in a tree. I know it’s my Grandma stopping by to say, “Hey, it’s gonna be OK Jenna and I Love You!” — I know she is one of my Heavenly angels!


Gayle was able to pick up on some of my familial and ancestral patterns and also tapped into some of the challenges I was having at home and that we were having with our teenage boys. She was able to see that I was digging myself out of a rut: both psychologically and physically. Regarding how I was feeling toward my body and my health circumstances, Gayle provided these powerful nuggets of truth:

  1. You don’t have to continue to live life this way — it’s a choice
  2. Befriend your body — begin to love and forgive it
  3. You don’t need to be sick to be loved
  4. I am not a victim of my circumstances or body
  5. This is not Karmic punishment
  6. Choosing not to participate in life is a subtle type of suicide
  7. Suffering is Not a Requirement on the Path to Joy
  8. I am here to learn how to own and use my Power

Reading

She also recommend a couple books, Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life and The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle. Louise’ message is all about the power of your thoughts and words and how they can impact your life. She has been called “the closest thing to a living Saint.” Louise passed in 2017 at the age of 90 — but her legacy lives on in the non-profit humanitarian Hay Foundation she created in 1986 in response to the AIDS epidemic. In 1987 Louise began Hay House company whose mission is, “dedicated to supporting positive change in the world by helping all people to grow in mind, body, and spirit.”

Eckart Tolle has been described as “the most popular spiritual author in the United States” and “the most spiritually influential person in the world”. His teachings focus on Presence or the awakened state of consciousness that transcends the ego. He sees this awakening as the essential next step in human evolution.

Spirit

Life, Spirit

To assist in my climb out of that deep dark hole I had sunken into, I decided to turn back towards Spirituality to aid in my search for answers and perhaps some healing. But, let me back up here and give you an overview of my non-religious upbringing.

My Mother’s parents were Polish Catholic. They went to church regularly and she attended Sunday School taught by Nuns who put the fear of God and Hell in her as a little girl. My Father’s parents had come from the South and were Baptist. However, I don’t believe Dad was raised going to Church. I was baptized in the Catholic Church but don’t remember attending church. My parents had a falling out when my brother and I were very young; after which we never went back.

My parents divorced when I was ten; it was 1980 and the “New Age” movement was all the rage. My mom, fresh off divorce, and tired of the strict ideals of Catholicism that she’d been raised in, began seeking other forms of “religion.”

Mom successfully consulted the Ouija board to find missing items — from the precious porcelain Easter egg ornament (but that’s a story for another day) to my beloved pet hamster, Rusty Wayne Newton III, that had escaped from his cage when I was 12.

Rusty Wayne Newton III

During Middle and High School mom introduced me to several spiritual books. Some of my favorites were Illusions, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and One by Richard Bach. He was probably my first introduction to Spirituality.

Then I read Shirley MacLaine’s books and Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs and later Star Signs, James Redfield’s The Celestine Prophecy and The Medicine Wheel: Earth Astrology by Sunbear and Wabun Wind. For a gift one year I received a beautiful Onyx black bear with Clear Quartz crystal on his back. I still have him today — he sits on my altar.

Star Signs & Autobiography of a Yogi

In college, for my Psychology degree, we had to select an adjunct area of concentration and I chose East Asian Cultures. My favorite class was Eastern Religion where we studied about Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, etc. We read, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, one of my all-time favorite books for which I still have my beautiful worn collegiate copy. I also took several courses in Chinese History and Culture and the ancient Japanese Arts.

For Christmas during this time, Mom gave me a statue of two little Gurus smoking pipes and reading books. They join Black Bear on my altar.

My Alter

Growing up, Mom and I consulted with a local astrologer and had our birth charts read. ‘Jerry’ described me to a T and I became hooked — I was enamored with the science of astrology. I love how it weaved the left brain sciences of mathematics, astronomy and physics together with right brain creativity, art, and intuition.

Om

Later, as a young adult, I took a few classes in the evening at the nearby high school through a local astrologer. We learned the basics: signs, planets, houses, aspects, and an introduction of how to put it all together. I acquired books on the planets, astronomy, and even tipped a toe into Stephen Hawking and Quantum Mechanics. I’ve since accumulated probably 30 books on Astrology over the years and have been studying it on and off for as many.


In January 2021, when I decided to look for Spiritual Guidance, I did what everyone does nowadays and consulted the “Almighty Google”. I had no idea where to look or even what to search for, I just knew that I needed to start somewhere and find someone with an intuitive connection to the universe; someone who could possibly provide some insight as to why my life had been so damn difficult, someone who could help me learn how to heal and provide a hand up and out of the dark place I had been in for so long. Thus began my Spiritual “Reawakening.”