I took a whole week off from doing readings, and in many ways I am glad I did. I am feeling much more energized and grounded again. I also had one of those weeks where tension seemed to pop up everywhere around me, with things going horribly wrong. I can't imagine what my readings would have been like had I done any this past week. At the same time, I had a wonderful week, and a lot of things went great. I am grateful to have the emotional clarity right now to feel thankful for all the wonderful things in life, even amidst the bad. Or is it just knowing that things could have been a lot worse? This weekend I was grateful for sunlight, for not getting eaten by wolves, and for getting home very late.

I got a chance to go to the Saturday morning farmer's market here, the last one for the season. The weather was beautiful, with sun and 68* F (20* Celsius), but still with obvious signs of fall around. It was nice to see the last flowers of summer out in the fall light. I got to take some photos, and also bought a bunch of vegetables at the market. A great start to a Saturday.

Later in the evening, I taught the last day of my 4-week Animal Communication class. My students all did a fantastic job, and I could tell a big difference between now and the first day of class. It's a lot to absorb theoretically if it's someone's first time learning an intuitive art. However, the trick is to relax and not overthink it. It's about getting into a relaxed observational mode. An almost day-dreamy state. Not actively thinking. This is why I like to focus so much on practice in my classes. You can't learn to do this by just reading books. You have to jump in and experience it yourself. That's the only way you can learn to navigate how your abilities work for you.

On my way home from the stables where I teach, my car broke down. And this time, it didn't start again. Luckily we have triple-A, so I called for a tow-truck. The wait was 1 & 1/2 hour to get towed, but somehow the woman on the phone managed to bump me to be first in line, so I only had to wait 30 minutes. I was also lucky to have broken down close to the stables, so I decided to walk back and see if the owner, Anke, was still up.

The brightest light around was the moon, as this was out in the middle of nowhere. As I trudged up the path to the stables in the dark, I heard a strange whirring noise. It sounded almost like a car driving slowly toward me, but I couldn't for the life of me see any car lights (or anything for that matter), so it put me on edge. Then out of the dark a shadow came running at me full speed. In my mind, this had to be a wolf or coyote, so in my feeble efforts to stay alive I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Anke's voice called out, asking me and the wolf what the heck is going on, and that's when I realize that the wolf was just her crazy (but very friendly) dog wanting to say hi. Anke was just out on her golf-cart driving hay around to the horses, without her lights on. I think I gave the dog, the horses, and the neighbors a pretty good scare with my screaming.

I had a nice chat and cup of tea with Anke. I was supposed to get text-updates on when the tow truck was close by, but I wasn't receiving anything. At one point, in mid-conversation, I just felt this sudden overwhelming urge to run back to the car, so I excused myself and ran back. Surrounding my car was the tow truck and a police car. I run over to them, hoping they wouldn't tow it away without me or arrest me for something. Turns out my car had broken down almost right in front of someone's driveway, so the people that live there had called the police. I am sure the scream in the dark didn't help to reassure them either.

The police were just glad I was OK and didn't abandon my car there. The tow truck had just arrived. I eventually got home just fine, though very late.

Sunday was relaxing and uneventful. Whenever I take a break from work like this, I like to revisit my priorities. I went through my lists of projects I am working on, and got a little clearer on what things I want to spend my time doing. I am currently creating a few new online projects that I am very excited about. I also set some new intentions for the next few months.

Tomorrow is Halloween/Samhain of course. Some people wonder if there really is a "thinning of the veil" on Halloween. As a medium, I personally don't notice a big difference in the ability of souls to connect on Halloween versus any other day of the year. People often think more about spirits in general around this time, or they think about their ancestors, and the thought of them can often bring them closer. But you can do that any other day too: think of your loved ones on the other side, and they will feel it and draw closer to you. No need to wait until Halloween.

Regardless, I absolutely adore this holiday. I love giving out candy to kids. I love dressing up. I love all the decor (which I honestly could use all year round). I love the candy. Alas, this year I am on a particular elimination diet, so I can't have any candy. Which might be tough, so wish me luck.
I hope you all have a great celebration and lovely week.

Warmly,
Thea

This past weekend I took off on Saturday afternoon to go to the pumpkin patch with my kids. It was pouring rain, but still enjoyable. This particular one had a train ride and a boat ride, and lots of mud.

Saturday evening I went to teach the third day of my 4-week Animal Communication course at the stables. My students were troupers, as I had us all go out into the pouring rain to communicate with one of the horses. It can be hard to keep your focus with cold rain and wind in your face and horses investigating your umbrella, but they all did amazingly well. It just shows that, although it is preferred, you don't need peace and quiet to do a good reading. It's good to test out your boundaries and see what you're really capable of. I often have to do animal communication readings while being licked in the face (by animals) or with the sound of animals going crazy in the background. I think this is where my experience as a mother of two toddlers comes in handy.

During class I also talked a bit about what we do when we're not able to connect to an animal, and reasons for why that might happen. I mentioned that sometimes we're not able to connect because of our own energy-levels being low, or if we are sick. While I was saying this, I had a strong feeling that I would be experiencing this pretty soon. Later that evening, I was feeling unreasonably tired, but I didn't think much of it (I have a bad habit of ignoring my own physical discomfort or illness).

Sunday morning however, I was clearly feeling under the weather again. My back was aching, and my throat was feeling sore. I decided I would power through my day of phone readings, since I wasn't feeling too sick yet. This is typical me, to ignore signs that I should take it slow. I thought that since I did an audience reading just last week with the beginnings of a cold, I would be fine this time too.

The first few readings were mediumship, and though they were heavy readings, they went really well. Then I had a two-hour break until my last reading, so I went downstairs to check on my family and relax. When I laid down on the couch, I felt like I had just gotten hit by a truck. No matter, I thought. I will just rest now and then power through my last one of the day which was supposed to be short anyways. I did some energy work and some meditation to get me into a clear centered state, but when I sat down to do the last reading, I was only getting vague or weak information. I just wasn't able to connect very strongly.

Every honest reader will experience this sort of thing, once in a blue moon, that they just aren't able to get a very strong connection. Sometimes it's because they're sick. Sometimes it's because their energy doesn't connect well with the client's energy. Sometimes, it's something completely different. My policy is that if I'm not able to connect for my client, then I either reschedule with them, or offer a refund. Luckily my client was very understanding and we were both on the same page that we should end the session there.

I've been very busy doing readings lately. I typically need to take a few days break every few weeks, to refresh and rejuvenate, or else I hit a wall. I also need to get better at listening to how my body is feeling, and instead reschedule any sessions if I am not feeling well.

Taking care of yourself is incredibly important when you do this kind of work, because your body and your energy are your tools of the trade. All the information you get from energy when doing a reading is flowing through your energy and body. If they're not in good shape, it can be challenging to do this work.

These pictures are from my work space at home, where I do phone readings from. I am lucky to have two cats who love to "help" me while I work. Their job descriptions include sitting on my things, getting pet, and scratching at the door countless times throughout a session.

This week I will try to take my healing a little more seriously. I hope you all have a wonderful healing week too.

Early this morning, I took my kids to the park. Our neighbor's teenage cat was outside our house as usual, ready to gather some cuddles or run inside. He likes to sit on our fence, hiding behind tree branches in hopes of catching the squirrels that run our fence with tree nuts.

We've been having some gorgeous weather lately, and fall is looking pretty brilliant around here in the Northwest.

Fall is one of my favorite times of year (spring being my other favorite). The air, the sunlight, the colors... and of course the reminder of death being apart of life. To mediums, death doesn't feel so final. In this work, I am blessed to experience the joy and beauty that is the other side. Almost every spirit I talk to will emphasize just how present they still are in our lives. They will bring up something going on in your life presently to show that they know and are still there with you even though they might not have a body anymore. Or they might bring up ways in which they send you signs of their presence still.

However, this knowledge does not mean that mediums aren't hit by deep grief and mourning when our own loved ones pass. But it does give comfort.

Friday evening, our car broke down again, right before a very busy weekend. Luckily I have some very nice students, one of whom was going to several of my events this weekend and could give me a ride. (I am forever grateful to you, Libbey)

Saturday was the second class of my 4-week Animal Communication course. My students started off with an exercise of connecting on their own to a horse.

In between exercises, Roy came over for a snuggle with some of my students.

They got to work with several different animals, including several horses in person, and each others' pets across a distance.

Sunday I did another audience reading event, with my friend and colleague psychic medium Anna Blossom Cohen.

This is a low-cost event that we do once a month in Portland. Any proceeds from these events go to a local charity at the end of the year. We still have to choose which one, but our candidates are: Big Brothers Big Sister Columbia Northwest, Intergenerational Outreach Choir, and Raphael House.

We usually do this event with Medium Joshua John, but he was sick yesterday and couldn't make it. I think Anna and I managed amazingly well, with the help of spirit and with Libbey's help to set up, keep time, and take photos.

At an audience reading event like this, one of the mediums will stand up and connect to the audience's loved ones on the other side. As a medium, I open myself up to the other side, and will receive information from those spirits through images in my mind's eye, words in my head, feelings in my body, and sometimes just a knowing.

There aren't many clear photos of us from the event, mainly because we like to move around a lot while doing the readings. I find that walking or moving helps the energy flow a little easier.

I connected to a variety of spirits throughout the event. Someone's father. Someone's daughter. Someone's friend. Someone's uncle. Two different brothers, both who had committed suicide. One of the brothers came through exceptionally clear. Sometimes I will see this misconception about people who have committed suicide, that they somehow have trouble coming through when connecting to a medium. I have never really found this to be the case.

I think this photo above is right after a spirit showed me the image of a giant camel in reference to always smoking camel cigarettes. I always get the bizarre images. There is usually a lot of tears and a lot of laughter at these events, as some spirits have a good sense of humor on the other side and it shows in the type of information they bring through.

At the very end, Anna and I tried to do what's called double-linking. This is where two mediums connect to the same spirit. I find it so helpful and fun to work with another medium, as one can help the other along if one gets stuck, or fill out some of the information. We can complete each-other's readings, in a sense. 

Sunday morning I felt a cold coming on, but decided to power through it. During the event I felt a little better, but today I am exceptionally drained (hence the lateness of this post). Hoping for a speedy recovery for myself. I hope you all have a lovely week. I will be relaxing with plenty of herbal tea.


Warmly,
Thea

On Saturday morning I packed my things and headed down to Albany, Oregon, for the RaSani Body Mind Spirit Fair.

It was early and gorgeous outside, so I decided to stop at a nature reserve and steep in the sunrise and morning dew for a little while.

Since I was around 12 years old, I would go to psychic fairs as often as I could. It was my absolute favorite thing to do. I would get an aura photo taken, some crystals or an oracle card deck, and a couple psychic readings (some good and some awful). I attended as many mini-workshops as I could. I ADORED it. This past weekend however, was the very first psychic fair where I had my very own booth.

It was fun and exhausting all at once. Having to open up my awareness to do readings, while surrounded by so many people and energies can be overwhelming. I offered 20-minute readings, for people wanting to receive some guidance in their life, or to connect to loved ones on the other side, or to get to know their pets better.

Day 2 of the fair was considerably less exhausting than the first day, despite me doing more readings on the second day. I think that is due to a few different reasons: there were less people at the fair that day, I brought more snacks for myself, and I was better at taking breaks between readings to get up and walk around a little. A little bit of self-care can make a world of difference for a psychic's readings too.

My booth was next to my friend and colleague medium Joshua-John. I am lucky enough to have quite a few friends who do similar things to what I do. Having a community of support when you do this kind of work is priceless.

What I didn't realize before the fair, is that you could bring your dog (and cat, apparently). This meant that I had the pleasure of talking to two dogs right there in person, rather than just connecting across a distance like I normally would.

I even got to hold one of them for half the reading. This is one of my favorite parts about doing animal communication when I am in-person with the animal: the snuggles.

All in all, it was a great two days: I got to be of service, meet some wonderful people, and mingle with talented colleagues. I am definitely still in love with psychic fairs.

This morning I got up early to go through some photos I took from this past weekend.

I feel immensely grateful to get to do this work, as every day is different, every reading is different (and uniquely amazing each time), and every class is such a joy to teach.
Saturday I got to do a few readings, including a small mediumship group reading where the spirits coming through each patiently waited for their turn. This was a huge relief to me, as that doesn't always happen. A reading can have several spirits coming through all at once, talking over each-other. You can imagine how confusing that can get.
After the group reading, I headed over to the local Anamchara Stables, to teach an Animal Communication class. I came a bit early, giving me time to visit with the horses for a bit while they were finishing their hay.

Gorgeous Petra here is one of my favorites. She is one of the first horses I ever communicated with, and she is always very affectionate towards me.

This was the first day of a 4-week class, so we went through a lot of the basics around intuitive work and connecting with animals. The students also all got a chance to practice communicating with one of my cats, and with a horse at the stables.

This handsome guy is Bo. Even though this was just the first class, one of my students did a great job of picking up on how Bo isn't feeling very well lately.

On Sunday I got to finish teaching a Reiki Master class, and do some more readings. One client got a reading for her 1 year old dog as a birthday present for him. I absolutely love doing birthday readings for animals! On my way to this reading, our car started acting up (or rather, breaking down). Convinced that I was done for, I did some praying to my helper spirits, and I somehow miraculously made it there and home again just fine without having to call triple A.

I am excited to continue blogging when I get a chance. I would love to share more of my day-to-day life as an psychic medium and animal communicator. Photography is also a big passion of mine, so it feels great having a platform to share that again.

I hope you all have a lovely week!
Warmly,
Thea