What's it like to talk with spirits in the spirit world? Are these stories real or are they metaphors? Are there really sprites and other woodland beings that exist? Are you afraid of the spirits? Are there dark spirits? How do you know what's going to happen? How do I develop these gifts and where do I fit with these gifts in the church and my Christian faith? I have been getting a lot of questions along these lines, so in today's episode we're going to talk about all of these things and more.
Seeing spirits and the spirit world
I see spirits in the spirit world. I meet with them, I talk with them and I share their stories. I also talk with spirits and nature. I talk with the trees and the land and plants and flowers. I talk with bees and I see the spirits that are throughout nature and they tell me stories and I share them.
I did not have these gifts growing up that I'm aware of. They developed on their own as I was seeking for more truth.
Principles for developing spiritual gifts
If we want some basic principles for spiritual gifts and for how to develop them and where they come from, there are a couple things to keep in mind.
One is, what do you desire and what are you seeking for?
Two, why are you seeking for it? What is the purpose for it? What do you intend to do with it?
And number three, which is actually probably the most important, is where is your heart? What is your heart centered on?
Spiritual gifts: my framework and faith
My journey and my search has been centered around developing my relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that what the scriptures teach us about him is true. That he was born of the Virgin Mary and came to this earth to perform his atoning sacrifice for us so that we could return to live with him and our Heavenly Father again, in the eternities, in an exalted, purified state.
I believe that this time here on our on Earth is part and a little piece of our eternal progression. That we lived in the eternities as spirits before we were born and came to earth. That before we came to Earth, we had eons of experiences that we were taught and we were learning, and that our time here on Earth is a continuation and a progression of that time. When we die, we continue to progress and to learn and grow the things that we learned pre-mortally and here on this earth.
That is the framework within which these beliefs and experiences all sit for me.
So my experience is derived out of my desire to draw closer to my savior, Jesus Christ. That led to me searching for a church where I felt he existed and where he was living.
The faith that I was raised in didn't feel alive to me. It works for many people, but it just simply wasn't working for me and so I was searching.
I also tend to be very internally driven, if you will. I believe that God is not something that is simply separate and out there. God is also within, and I think a lot of modern Christianity focuses on God as being completely separate from us, an entity that we worship who is out there.
The early days of Christianity were considered mystics or mysticism, and it was much more about connecting with Christ within, and so that's kind of my driving force behind these things.
Searching for truth
When I was investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that's really when things initially started, because I started to purify myself and to let go of things of the world that kept me separate from the spirit.
I had been living with someone. I ended that relationship. I became celibate and single. I actually, before I learned about the church, I gave up alcohol. I had been drinking socially, and I realized that I was using it as a crutch to help me deal with stress, and I decided that that was not a way that I wanted to handle stress. So I let it go. I gave it up completely.
By the time I learned about the church, I was already following the practices that you have to follow before you can be baptized. Then I started having some dreams that gave me guidance and direction about steps to take in my life.
Where is your heart leading you?
After I was baptized and I finished grad school, I moved from Massachusetts to Iowa where I took a job teaching in a physical therapy program. I thought I would have that job for forever. It was a perfect job. It was exactly what I was looking for, but a few years in, I realized that I was unfulfilled and that there was something else for me.
This goes back to your heart and your desires. What do you feel within you that is calling you, that is pulling you towards something? This is what I was feeling.
So I prayed and I fasted and I went to the temple. I had been endowed by this point. I was endowed a year after I was baptized, I went to the temple and through all of this, the impression that I got was to quit my job.
I was literally standing in front of my class one day teaching and as I'm teaching, the spirit speaks to me and he says, “I have something better for you.” I thought, okay. I had no idea what that was.
Thankfully, my husband was agreeable and got the same revelation, and so I quit my job to come help him with his business, which I still do today.
How my gifts began - a spirit pays a visit
Overlapping with that, I was introduced to The Emotion Code and The Body Code by Dr. Bradley Nelson. These are energy clearing tools that are designed to help us, and anyone can read the books and learn these things for themselves. To heal from the emotional traumas and physical traumas, all the traumas and challenges that we experience as human beings.
I had a lot of those challenges in my family lines. My parents were wonderful. My mother is deceased, my dad's still alive. I love them both, but we had a lot of stuff that required a lot of healing for me.
Until I got married, I had never had what I would consider a healthy romantic relationship. They were never physically abusive, but they were not emotionally healthy. That made getting married and sealed in the temple a little scary, but part of this has been clearing and healing all the generational patterns that were not serving me, not helping me, or allowing me to be cleansed and pure and able to receive the spirit and have these things within me.
So as I was learning The Emotion Code, I had an experience one day where I was sitting on the couch and practicing muscle testing. I was a little frustrated. I was kind of struggling with it.
All of a sudden, a female spirit came and sat next to me on the couch.
I did not see her physically like you see a physical person, but she was still very clear to me. She was wearing all white and she looked all white. And she simply said, "the point is not to get the muscle testing right. The point is to learn to listen to the Holy Ghost."
I thought that was fascinating! I had never considered having an experience like that.
Can a Christian be a medium?
Let's address the first objection that a lot of people have when they hear that I talk to spirits. They reference Leviticus 19:31 (NKJV), which says: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God."
Most modern translations use the word "mediums," which is the word we use today for those who talk with the dead. However, the King James Bible translates it as "familiar spirits." That translation reads, "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God."
The original Hebrew word in the Strong's Concordance for "familiar spirits" refers to the practice of necromancy. Necromancy is the practice of magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits for the purpose of divination, to fore foretell future events or possibly accomplish things that might otherwise be impossible.
So the reference to "familiar spirits" isn't simply about talking with the dead. It's about conjuring up the spirit of a dead person with the intent of divination. This is what kings would do, and what Saul did that caused him to lose favor with the Lord.
That is not what I do. It's this act or desire of foretelling the future by conjuring up someone who is dead, and seeking that spirit for guidance instead of the Lord.
I am most definitely not doing that, but I actually don't have any concerns about my gift and the work that I'm doing because of the path that I've been on and what I'm seeking after. I'm sharing this for those of you who might have questions about it and want to understand it a little bit deeper.
Spirits started showing up
The spirits started showing up as I worked with clients. Many times I would be working to help someone heal something, and one of their ancestors would appear with a message to help them understand the experience, emotion, or trauma they were trying to heal. It always brought peace and understanding.
As I continued to have these experiences, it made me question as well, my faith and my belief and my understanding, and that gave me the opportunity to draw closer to God and to learn to discern his voice. This has confirmed that what I was doing was acceptable to him.
I have continued to receive guidance and direction that it is acceptable, and I've continued to receive understanding about my purpose, and I am at home with these things at this point.
So if you are feeling a pull towards something, if your heart is pure, or becoming pure is becoming cleansed, then you know that you are on the right path.
A warning about other spirits
I'll be very bold here. There are many in the world today who commune with spirits, receive "angel messages," and speak of bringing peace and elevating humanity and talking with groups of spirits who say they are here to help us.
I believe, and I've heard directly from spirits already in the spirit world, that there is only one way to your Heavenly Father, to true light, to your true heavenly home, and that is through Jesus Christ. He says it himself: "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the light."
He is the only way for the peace that you seek in the eternities for the progression that you seek, in the eternities, for all that you truly seek. It is only through him.
All of these other spirits that these other people talk about and bring forth may sound good. They may lead you to something that is good, but it is not the pure light or the true light, or it may even be a false light and be darkness.
There are many things that happen and that we see on this earth from people who do not follow Jesus that can cause us some confusion because they seem to prosper.
But it is one thing to prosper on the earth, which will eventually die and fall away and be renewed in life through Christ. And another thing entirely to prosper eternally through baptism by immersion, through covenants, through following your Savior, through being purified, cleansed, sanctified. They're not the same thing.
Other spirits may sound good. They may lead you toward something that seems good. But it is not the pure or true light, and it may even be a false light and be darkness.
Spiritual gifts are given before birth
Any spiritual gifts that you feel that you have or that you want to develop, the most important thing is to develop your relationship with Christ and let him, and let your Heavenly Father guide you. Then you'll know you were on the right path, and if you have desires for them, they have been planted in your heart from the beginning. You were given tho these things before you were born.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV): "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Isaiah 49:5: "...he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and that Israel might be gathered to him."
Your gifts are part of who you are. They were given to you beforehand. You have a purpose while you're here. Seek after those things and that will give you the direction you need to develop your gifts.
How to tell dark spirits from light
One of the primary laws of our world is agency. We are given choices all day long. To choose between light and darkness, between good and bad, between more light and less light, it's not even so important what you choose. It's simply important that you choose
Dark or evil spirits have no problem trying to overcome your agency — giving you things, pushing you toward choices they want you to make, not what is best for you.
Spirits of God, of true light, will never violate your agency.
A practical guide: if you haven't asked for any impression and you receive one, it is probably not from a spirit who has your best interest in mind. When you need help, ask.
Spirit paradise vs. spirit prison
Once we die, there is Spirit Paradise for those who have been baptized by immersion by one who has authority, and there is Spirit Prison for those awaiting those ordinances, or those who were dark and refused them.
Many in Spirit Prison who have accepted the gospel but are waiting for their temple work to be done will try to give you impressions and help you. They don't mean harm, but they don't have the full picture. They can't see the big picture the way God can. It's like asking someone who only plays drums to teach you piano. It's not so helpful.
Ask. Ask a lot. Ask specifically for the things you want and need help with. Spirits in spirit paradise need to be be asked, because they will respect your agency!
Are the stories of talking with spirits real or metaphorical?
Someone left this question on a video: "Do these experiences come from nature itself, the tree, for example, the trees, or do they come from God? Who is the creator? What is basically, what is the, what is the voice? Where are you hearing these things from? And are these stories metaphorical or are they to be taken literally?"
They are definitely to be taken literally. They are not metaphorical.
What I've learned is that all these beings exist, they just don't exist here. They exist in a different time, place, and space. Someday those places and things will all come together and we will see and know all of it.
Where does the voice come from? The Earth answers.
As far as the voice, I got an answer to this from the Earth.
Last year I was out talking with the earth at a local park, getting guidance about my elements. At the end of the conversation I asked: "What would I call your voice? Are you my conscience? Are you the Holy Spirit?"
This is what I received:
"I AM. I am you. I am contained and yet not contained. I am you and you are me. We are dancing and seeking expression together. We are one, we are becoming one. All is one. Jesus and Heavenly Father and I AM. All are one and are creating one. One Zion, one community, one people, one Earth. Glory be to God and all that is."
This reminds me of Exodus 3:14 with Moses and the burning bush. Moses asks God who has sent him, and God says: "I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you."
The voices we hear are without and within. When I talk to the trees, when I speak with the guardians of the land, it seems like it's coming from outside me, but it's within me. We don't completely understand all of it because our experience is fractal in nature, we have a veil, and we live in time that appears linear to us. And that's okay.
Are you afraid of dark spirits?
Another question I received is: "I've been studying the gift of beholding angels and spirits. And wonder what it's like to grow in that gift and see beyond the veil. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you see the spirits? How do you see them? Are you worried about meeting dark spirits?"
No. For some reason I don't fully understand, I know how to deal with them when I encounter them, and I am not afraid of them.
I have friends who have similar gifts and it frightens them, so they've turned it off, and that's completely fine. Others, like me, see spirits and simply aren't afraid. It depends on your initial response to them.
There are also different places spiritually where you can perceive spirits. Some people see earthbound spirits hanging out in their homes, who look as physical as any living person. These are usually spirits who need help letting go and moving on. I do not see those spirits.
What I've come to understand is that when I communicate with spirits, I go into the spirit realm. I open some kind of curtain between where I am and spirit prison, and I go and sit with them and meet them there. I also encounter spirits when I'm walking a path and they show up. They look to me exactly like a human would look, but they're not solid. They're more ethereal. Very real, but not solid.
Discerning spirits is not different from discerning the intentions of people here on earth. It's a skill that develops with practice. It's not something to fear. It just takes time, and you grow in confidence over time.
Practical guidance for developing your gifts
The biggest guidance I can give you if you want to understand talking with spirits or to develop your own spiritual gifts is to go to God and ask.
The place to start is also with the basics. Pray, study your scriptures, go to church, be faithful to any covenants you have made, purify your body. Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, and many things we consume cloud our temple and make us a less clear channel to receive.
None of us is perfect. We are still in human form. This is why it's important to get confirmation from more than one source.
I recently got an answer to a prayer I'd been seeking during a meeting at church, then received confirmation from two other women in separate conversations, and when that last piece was shared with me, the spirit welled up and I got emotional and knew it was right. Thank you, the spirit confirmed it.
Don't just listen to me. Find other places that can confirm what you're receiving here. Learn to hear the voice of Jesus. Study your scriptures. Seek after the things of your heart. Work to purify and cleanse your heart, and he will guide you to where you need to go.
As you seek, you will find. That promise is given to us over and over, and I know that it is true.
