By Jo Mooy
She was a Rosicrucian and my first spiritual mentor. Her name was Gloria. She introduced me to meditation, numerology, color and frequency, psychic experiences, rituals and sacred ceremonies. She taught me the importance of remembering and interpreting dreams and how to consciously walk shamanic pathways into alternate realities. And she guided me well in the early days of my spiritual journey.
I remember many of her pronouncements regarding the direction my life would take. She’d lean back in her chair, her eyes would glaze, her voice deepened with a husky edge, and she’d tell me what she saw. Gloria said I would never be rich, but would always be comfortable. She said my job would take me far and support me well. She predicted three extraordinary experiences that would propel me into alternate realities. One of those experiences, where I consciously observed myself entering an immense fluid energy field while driving my car, is as vivid today as when it occurred in the 1970s.
However, the most compelling prediction she made, and one that stuck in my mind, was the major directional change my life would take when I entered my 60s. She saw me teaching the spiritual path to others accompanied by an “equally dedicated spiritual partner.” At the time of the prediction I felt she’d made her first mistake. I had no “dedicated spiritual partner” in my life, and I couldn’t conceive of a scenario where I’d be teaching others about the spiritual path, being new to it myself. What I failed to realize was that “The Calling” to do just that had been planted in my being long before she told me when it would flower.
What I’ve come to know is that The Calling is a journey of spiritual awakening that can come like a bolt out of the heavens or it can come into your consciousness like a feather falling softly from a pillow.
It can arrive at any time in your life, as it did when I met Gloria. When you become conscious of it, you know on a deep inner level that your life is going to change in dramatic ways. It’s a subtle spiritual force that permeates your being and all you can do is respond to its direction. It influences the books you read, the music you listen to, the TV you watch, and the places you visit. It causes you to seek out teachers who can identify and explain it in ways that soothe your spirit.
It doesn’t have to, but many times it shatters your old life patterns, leaving it in tatters. Because you’re changing, old friends and even family members will often fall away from your sphere of contacts. They tell you they don’t know who you are, or worse, they don’t like the person you’ve become. When you try to explain your new interests or behavior, they want no part of it. Or you. It can be a painful and lonely time. Yet you persevere.
That’s when you realize that the “new you” no longer has the same interests that were prevalent in your old life. Everything about you has changed and you want to follow that singular path though you have no idea where it will lead. It’s then that the spiritual teacher becomes your best guide. And if the teacher is good, they will direct you to your own inner guide.
Gloria’s prediction of “teaching the spiritual path in your 60s” has happened. My partner Patricia and I now coordinate women’s meditations and retreats, and the participants say these events have had a profound effect on their lives. The practices and exercises we share have caused seismic changes to happen, and as old relationships came unglued, new ones emerged and ignited for these wonderful souls.
Changes like this announce The Calling sounding from the depths of our being.
When you hear it and then cross that threshold, only you can pick up the light offered and carry it on. You will do this with a lightness in your heart and a smile on your face. The awakening of spiritual knowing is the soul’s essential quest in living a human incarnation. What a symphony it creates!
Jo Mooy has studied with many spiritual traditions over the past 40 years. The wide diversity of this training allows her to develop spiritual seminars and retreats that explore inspirational concepts, give purpose and guidance to students, and present esoteric teachings in an understandable manner. Along with Patricia Cockerill, she has guided the Women’s Meditation Circle since January 2006 where it has been honored for five years in a row as the “Favorite Meditation” group in Sarasota, FL, by Natural Awakenings Magazine. Teaching and using Sound as a retreat healing practice, Jo was certified as a Sound Healer through Jonathan Goldman’s Sound Healing Association. She writes and publishes a monthly internationally distributed e-newsletter called Spiritual Connections and is a staff writer for Spirit of Maat magazine in Sedona. For more information go to www.starsoundings.com or email jomooy@gmail.com.