Spiritual Direction

“In meeting your soul, you are getting out of a type of earthbound madness. You are allowing yourself to live the rest of your life without fear of what will become of you on this Earth.

Caroline Myss, “The Interior Castle”

We are living in troubled times. The world is profoundly polarized and increasingly dangerous. We are fraught with paradoxical impulses. The religious institutions and foundations we once turned to are breaking down and failing us when we need them the most. Even with consuming technological communication, many feel the loss of meaningful connection. Our lives are hurried, our minds scattered, our feelings frazzled. Despite days which are full-to-overflowing, we often feel empty and unsatisfied. Our inner world, a rich reservoir of support and inspiration, lies dormant, overwhelmed by the demands of time, and never-ending to-do lists.

Many of you feel an uneasiness you can’t describe. A sense that there must be more to life than this. You have your routines, your habits, your challenges, and your joys. But you feel lost in a way that you can’t quite identify. Sometimes this feels like anxiety, sometimes like sadness. Sometimes it feels like emptiness or a longing for something you cannot name.

Maybe you have suffered a terrible loss. Perhaps the things you thought you could once count on or that you enjoyed the most no longer offer any comfort or pleasure. You may have been betrayed by someone and feel abandoned and angry. For many, this will seem like a crisis. For you, it may seem like a crisis. A wise guide will recognize that these are also signs of initiation. The Divine is calling. For suffering is a holy truth. A truth, because it is universal and impersonal. Holy, because it is a portal for God to reach us. So often the very things we despair the most are also profound opportunities for growth and heart-opening for, as Rumi said “the gift of suffering is compassion”.

Spiritual Direction is both the presence and the practice to help you navigate these changes and embark with a trustworthy guide down the path you’re now on — the sacred journey to your soul.

Spiritual Direction invites presence and grace into your life. It allows you to sit in sacred space with a compassionate witness who can guide you toward a deepening relationship with what is holy and eternal. Through reflection and revelation, Spiritual Direction can move you from the outer-self to the inner-self, to the higher-self. It’s a quieting of a thousand outside voices to hear the call of a higher one.

Archetypal Consulting

“Know thyself”

Socrates

Archetypal consulting allows you to see the cosmic design of your life and to make empowered and divinely guided choices.

“By developing symbolic sight and archetypal language, you will grasp the whole of your life with a level of spiritual clarity that can heal the emotional and spiritual wounds you have accumulated and fill you with awe that your life is also of great importance to everyone you encounter. It becomes possible for you to trust that everything that is meant to come your way will arrive in due time, that you will be with the right people at the right moment, and that divine guidance endlessly flows into your soul. It can’t be otherwise: we manage our Contracts, but the Divine takes care of the Sacred.”

Caroline Myss: “Sacred Contracts.”

What are Archetypes?
Archetypes are psychological and emotional patterns which, often unconsciously, dictate our choices and behaviors. They are the energetic architects of our lives and – like astrology, the planets and our zodiac signs – are powerful forces that shape us. They are subject to divine law and The Law of Balance in particular, for all archetypes have both a light and a shadow aspect. This awareness allows us to look at some of our darker, more troublesome traits with an objective, exploratory view, rather than in defense or denial. And this objectivity serves us well in dealing with others too. When these archetypal forces are understood and activated in their higher potential, we have alchemy – the ability to transmute heavy aspects of emotion and relationship into spiritual gold.

History:
Plato was one of the first philosophers to identify archetypes as defining forces, but the most significant work on the subject was by Carl Jung. Jung’s understanding of archetypes and the collective unconscious is still the foundation from which all this work comes. James Hillman, Joseph Campbell, and Thomas Moore, among others, also contributed significantly to the field. Caroline Myss’ ground-breaking work, “Sacred Contracts”, has brought this teaching into our modern lives and made its profound wisdom and opportunity for transformation available to everyone.

Examples of Archetypes:

Caroline Myss identifies four universal survivor archetypes, aspects we all have and which stay with us our entire life: The Child (The Guardian of Innocence), The Saboteur (The Guardian of Choice), The Victim (The Guardian of Self-Esteem), and The Prostitute (The Guardian of Faith). These archetypes symbolize our major life challenges and how we choose to survive. Other archetypes which are well known include The Mother, The Father, The Rescuer, The Healer, The Artist, The Teacher. Some others, which can have a profound impact on us but which are less recognized, are The Judge, The Wounded Healer, The Addict, The Liberator, The Advocate, The Martyr – to name just a few. There are hundreds of archetypes, and even as we evolve, new patterns emerge. When Caroline wrote “Sacred Contracts” in 2002, the explosion of the internet was just beginning, and all of the techie archetypes that we now recognize didn’t exist yet. Thus, archetypal patterns, like humanity itself, are an ever-growing and expansive field.

Sacred Contracts and The Archetypal Wheels:

A Sacred Contract is just as it sounds – an agreement our soul made with God before incarnating here on earth. The Myth of Er, from Plato’s “Republic” is the basis of this concept and you can read more about this here: https://www.myss.com/free-resources/sacred-contracts-and-your-archetypes/the-basis-of-sacred-contracts/. Your sacred contract subjects you to the laws and order of the Divine. Like the secular laws that govern us, mystical laws, universal and impersonal, rule the universe. Regardless of whether we understand or believe in these laws, they affect all of us equally. By learning your sacred contract, you can make decisions from a place of symbolic sight. You can fulfill your divine potential and resolve many issues of daily life.

As Caroline states: “You must get beyond reason to where you can ‘see’ and understand the symbolic or greater meaning of your life.”

Natal Wheel and Fate/Destiny Wheel:

The two significant wheels I work with are the Natal Wheel and the Fate/Destiny Wheel. Like an astrological chart, the natal wheel pairs 12 archetypes with the 12 houses/aspects of your life. You cast the wheel by a combination of discerned, intentional choice, and divination. The result is a blueprint of the significant forces influencing you and how to use them for empowered change.

The Fate/Destiny Wheel is a powerful tool for transformation. By framing a troubling issue or unreached goal as a journey of transformation, you can alchemize fate to destiny. The wheel unveils the Chronos (past), Karmic (fate), and Cosmic (destiny) forces that shape and influence the situation and how you can move through them to reach your highest, divine potential.

Sacred Contracts (also known as covenants) appear in mythology, legend and the lives of the spiritual masters and we also see them in popular books and movies. The Wizard of Oz is an archetypal masterpiece, complete with multiple light and shadow aspects of our heroine, and the classic hero’s journey. In essence, we are all on a journey from surviving to thriving and understanding our sacred contract and archetypal allies is an indispensable map and travel guide on our voyage.

Josie is certified by Caroline Myss’ CMED program as an Archetypal Consultant and has spent years studying and applying these teachings. She can guide you on casting your wheel and is an expert at interpreting the results and teaching you how to use symbolic sight and wisdom in your life.

For a detailed description of Caroline’s extraordinary work on Sacred Contracts, please go here. https://www.myss.com/free-resources/sacred-contracts-and-your-archetypes/

Reiki

Reiki is a healing art originating in Japan. The word Reiki comes from the Japanese word Rei which means “Universal Life” and Ki which means “Energy”. Reiki is not affiliated with any particular religion or religious practice and it is not massage. It is a subtle and effective form of energy work, using spiritually guided energy. A Reiki session can ease tension and stress and help support the body to heal on all levels- physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

While Reiki is not inherently spiritual, I conduct my Reiki sessions with reverent intent and focus. For a more in-depth description of my experience with Reiki, please read the following published article here: https://elejrnl.com?p=2174898

Reiki sessions are available in-person in Stroudsburg, PA.