By Laurie O’Brien
I recently queried a number of my friends to find out if any had ever sought the counsel of a medium or psychic of any kind. I was astonished by how many of them responded in the positive.
Whether it was to seek advice about life choices or to make some sort of connection with a deceased friend or relative, my friends were anxious to tell me about their personal experiences. I felt sure that the majority would tell me they had been suckered, but to my surprise, nearly everyone had positive things to say. Predictions were made that proved true. Insight into past events was provided. The psychic revealed things about relationships they had no way of knowing. Confirmation of loved ones on the other side was achieved.
As a person who has never had a psychic reading of any kind and who nurtures a healthy degree of skepticism, it gave me a lot to think about.
Like most people, I’m fascinated by those who claim to have a connection to a different plane of understanding. Although I had my doubts, I thought it would be enlightening to sit down and talk with some people who provide this kind of help to others as a living. I wanted to find out how they approached their work. What called them to it, and whether or not they feel they have a special gift.
With that in mind I connected with two unique Thurston County inhabitants, Ari Moshe Wolfe (who goes by Ari Moshe professionally) and Lacey Dawn Jackson.
Ari Moshe practices Evolutionary Astrology. He believes that as our soul travels from life to life, we learn different lessons – that the more we tune in to the universe, the more we will be drawn to experiences and people who will help us live the lives we are ultimately meant to live.
“The people who come to me are seeking self-knowledge,” he says. “They are generally seeking clarity about their lives so they (can) fully live and enjoy this life. This will often express as people asking questions about relationships, work, etc. I think at the core we are all seeking the same thing. It just comes out in different ways at different moments and phases of our lives. My work is to see the deeper value and beauty in what my clients are working through; to see the potential for growth and self-remembering that is budding within each human experience and struggle.”
Lacey Dawn Jackson’s approach is quite different. She calls what she does “Intuitive Advising and Life Coaching.” She is a practitioner of AngelTherapy and employs the use of Oracle Cards to provide guidance. Jackson tells me that people seek her out for validation of their own psychic visions. “In recent years people (have come) to me because their intuition is waking up and they have questions and want to learn.”
For Ari Moshe, his work has been a journey of intellectual curiosity and personal growth. As a student at The Evergreen State College, he was given the freedom to create his own course of study, and he spent his undergraduate years delving into the history and practice of astrology and other areas of mysticism.
“(I was an) insatiable seeker during my early 20s, so that got me deep into astrology and eventually soul-focused astrology which opened up many doors of self-remembering. I never intended to become an astrologer. Astrology has become a medium through which I can really be present with others and give them what their soul is needing at the time. It’s the love and healing aspect of my work that has the most meaning to me. If it wasn’t for that I don’t think I would have continued down this path,” he says.
“I’m trained in the paradigm of Evolutionary Astrology as taught by Jeffrey Wolf Green. I feel I am naturally intuitive and emphatic. The EA framework has been a profound tool, and I consider it rich (with) spiritual wisdom,” he continues. “I found this work after being disillusioned about astrology; feeling it was not addressing the true essence of the individual; the soul. This paradigm understands the complexity and richness of the soul’s evolutionary journey from life to life and why we each come into the life that we do. This work has given me a clear language and refined context to understand these matters. I would also extend my training to several of my other teachers who have taught me, mostly through the example of their life, what it’s like to live from soul awareness. Adyashanti, Amma, Anastasia, the Abraham Hicks material, and several others.”
Although she doesn’t have a degree, Jackson has felt psychic intuition since she was a child and has been studying it, in one form or another for over 35 years. “It chose me,” she says. “I didn’t chose it. I have always been interested in spirituality and have always been a seeker – taking classes to learn more about metaphysics, counseling, bodywork. Even though I had given readings for years, it wasn’t until 2004 that I became a professional psychic after taking an AngelTherapy course.”
Jackson also recently published a book, Journey of the Groovy Goddess: Finding My Authentic Self, about her own life overcoming abuse and addiction. She feels that her past gives her a unique ability to inspire and motivate clients who may be in similar situations. Jackson tries to help her clients attune to their own intuition about their life situations. “I’m giving them information that confirms what’s been coming into their head, what they’ve been thinking.”
Both Ari Moshe and Jackson believe they are naturally empathetic and intuitive, yet each feels everyone contains special gifts that can help connect them to the divine. Ari Moshe was raised in a Jewish household, yet he acknowledges the teachings of Jesus and other religious figures as primary influences on his life. “God, or Source, the Tao, the One … is the essence of my work and my life. I recognize each session as a gift to both myself and my client. I devote and acknowledge each session as such and devote it for the highest good only,” he says.
He begins every session with a prayer, but his approach is a little different than the traditional way: “For me prayer isn’t about ‘praying to’ because what we might call God isn’t ‘out there’ to pray to. It’s in here. Whenever we focus our attention, that’s where God meets us. So I focus my attention towards love, towards being an instrument to speak and think the thoughts that are of greatest benefit to the soul I am working with. I devote the space for exactly this purpose and nothing else. After the session I give thanks for all the healing that we both received and I thank my client for this opportunity. To me it’s all the one infinite intelligence doing what it does. I am learning to flow with that and be an instrument of it. To me God is synonymous with Love.”
“God is everywhere,” says Jackson. “We are God. The trees are God. The universe, angels, faeries, archangels, ascended masters, the stars … (they are) different ways to communicate.” During her readings, Jackson employs the use of Angels or “God’s Helpers” to help connect her clients to deceased loved ones, their animals and their future selves.
“I do a little prayer before we get started, asking for their guides and angels and my guides and angels to come give us information that will best serve (the client) and I give thanks,” says Jackson.
It is then that Ari Moshe and Jackson rely upon their own connection with the universe – their psychic ability if you will – to provide their unique form of counsel.
Some people call it intuition. Some call it clairvoyance. Some practitioners call themselves psychics or mediums. Others use the ancient art of astrology as a tool – connecting what happens here on earth by studying what happens in the sky. All are students of the metaphysical – seeking to understand the nature of human existence and our relationship to the universe. When they connect with others, they believe their role is to provide “spiritual guidance” – with all the connotations that the word spirit conjures up.
Did I receive a reading? No. Am I still a skeptic? Yes. Am I still intrigued? Absolutely.
