Several years ago I attended a five-day retreat focused on Sophia, an aspect of Divine Feminine expressing Wisdom. This was an intense workshop, with sessions sometimes going late into the night. I was fortunate to be able to stay and sleep at the retreat center itself, so the late hours were not a problem for me. However, one of the men attending was camping out at the state park, which was located a few miles away, mostly up, on a hill atop the river bluff. He would ride his bike up there at … [Read more...]

I have always been interested, fascinated and intrigued by things of the spirit -- near-death experiences, out-of-body adventures, ESP, psychics, spirit communication -- for I found them all totally fascinating. But I had no personal experience with any of them. Little did I know what an integral role some would play in my life and how they would make my life so meaningful and help me to feel so valued. The fact that my daughter had to die before I would have the knowingness to tap into these … [Read more...]

While standing on the sidewalk near my front yard on a muggy, steamy July day, I noticed a woman approaching from the street. Her rotund body was encased in a long multi-colored skirt and baggy light green top, with a white flower placed neatly on the left side of her brown hair. She was carrying a small zipped case with a University of Minnesota logo on it. She appeared headed for a transitional group home for mentally ill adults next door to our house. We exchanged greetings, then she came … [Read more...]

I've had five near-death experiences now. Five times I have been in the same room near the side of loved ones as they have passed from this world. Each of these deaths, in their own way, was perfect for the person whose life we were honoring as they passed into the next world. Perfect in the sense that each mirrored the person involved, seemingly made for them as if their life had molded their death just for them. It was the first two of these near-death experiences that were to play a role … [Read more...]

I have always been the picture of health, so when I started having distressing symptoms that sounded like possible ovarian cancer, I finally went to see my doctor. After all the lab tests and even a CT scan, everything pointed once more to the clean bill of health I have always had. But I felt like crap! There were days at work when I wondered if I would make it through my shift. What was going on with me? In addition to the physical symptoms, there were the "other" symptoms -- emotional and … [Read more...]

Life is so fascinating. A few months ago I was fired from a bizarrely stressful job. I had been putting money aside the whole time I was there, not having any clue that this would happen. The hilarious synchronicity is that I was fired on the very day Mercury went retrograde. When I realized that timing I couldn't stop laughing. Mercury retrograde symbolizes a time to stop, reconsider and contemplate. Another irony is the timing of getting fired. It happened when my savings were at their … [Read more...]

An excerpt from Enlightenment Ain't What it Is Cracked Up To Be: A Journey of Discovery, Snow and Jazz in the Soul. It all began January 4, 1972, at about 4:00 in the afternoon, in a hotel on the beach in Mallorca, Spain, on a nine-month meditation retreat with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I couldn't miss the change. What I noticed immediately was that almost all of the background noise in my mind had disappeared. All those inarticulate mutterings, the endless half-thoughts beneath my thinking, … [Read more...]

This year, The Edge has invited you, the reader, to share your personal experience with us, and this month, we asked you to write on, "My Unexpected Awakening." We received submissions that we are proud to share with you. Experiential writing is a style that simply shares an experience you had. It’s ripe with detail and emotion. It describes how something felt, to you. It inspires people not by suggesting what is, or what might be, but by sharing what was, for you, and the magic or … [Read more...]