I have always been curious about the meaning of life, our relationship to each other and the Divine. In my first decades I defined myself by what I did and accomplished. Then I hit a moment of exhaustion, and I took a leap of faith and quit working “for one year.” I stepped off the wheel of achieving and entered a void to spend time on a journey I knew not where it would lead. I began a conscious spiritual search to heal loss and trauma I had experienced growing up.
I started a Hindu meditation practice that quieted my mind; I did visualizations led by a gifted woman that opened the world of spirit to me in the most gentle and profoundly healing way; I studied the I Ching to understand the balance of yin and yang, the male and female. I read the Zen texts of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, finding a wonderful counterpoint to the western way of always doing instead of being. I read the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, The Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila and The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross, exploring my European Christian heritage. I reread parts of the Old and New Testament, the so-called Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and some of the early Christian theologians. I explored our global humanity in Joseph Campbell’s books on mythologies around the world. I reread the Greek tragedies and Greek mythology. I uncovered earlier mythologies: the story of Inanna, the Sumerian Goddess of the Heaven and Earth who entered the Underworld and returned to the Upper World transformed (Descent to the Goddess by Sylvia Brinton Perera).
I was seeking understanding through my mind. The real healing occurred when I learned to go inside and listen to the energies and wisdom within my body…when I entered my interior landscape. I have been gifted with loving teachers and guides. The last one, Master Chang, taught me that we hold within our bodies the answers to every question we have, and we only need to go into our bodies to listen and heal whatever we find. I do this journeying within through hypnotherapy, visualization and meditation.
We all find ways to heal, reveal ourselves to the world and pursue our soul’s passion. On this sacred site I will share the main methods that have helped me go into my unconscious to heal and become what we each are: magical beings, full of light and grace. The methods include hypnotherapy, prayer, meditation, visualization, shamanic journeying and channeling.
Recommended reading:
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila
The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
The Gospel of the Beloved Companion: The Complete Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jehanne de Quillan
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women by Sylvia Brinton Perera
© Susan Beilby Magee, 2015. All Rights Reserved.
What does it mean to heal…to make ourselves whole?