Doreen Virtue, Tarot, Mediumship and Reiki

There's been a lot of stirring and discussion - and wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth - around Doreen Virtue's recent video. In that video, and not using the descriptive I've chosen, she declares Tarot, mediumship and Reiki (collection of posts here) to be sacrilegious.

I'm embedding the video below, if you care to watch it in its entirety. I see it as a follow-up to the video she posted back in the Spring that incited a similar response, and which was deleted within days after its posting. Between the two, I'd say this recent one may be perceived as more inflammatory, for all it's more explanatory, because it "names names," so to speak.

For the purpose of this blog post, I've transcribed the portion that inspired this blog post. It encompasses what Doreen Virtue said, beginning at 22:53 on the video.

The Transcription, from 22:53

"...after seeing Jesus, I was completely changed. I started to read The Bible even more. I started to volunteer at the church even more. And, I started to give up things that were against The Bible, like mediumship and what they call fortune-telling, which is predicting. And so, I wanted to be completely aligned with God's will. I didn't want to do anything that was against his will.

"So I prayed, and I prayed - and I still do - to 'Dear Lord, please lead me. Please make sure that what I'm doing, what I'm teaching is according to your will.' And so I know it was the real Jesus because I was led down this path that is scriptural and is loving and is non-judgemental.

"And I told Hay House that... a few things - my publisher - I told them that all the money that was coming from the Tarot cards - which I didn't think of them as 'evil,' I saw them as of a predictive nature and predictive is aligned with fortune-telling. But more than that. It's more than that.

"On a personal level, I asked holy spirit about the fact that I could see these things and what I was told by holy spirit is this: to read 1st Corinthians, 12. And this is something that will be good for you, also. And 1st Corinthians 12 - I'll summarize it - says that we all are given gifts by the holy spirit and the holy spirit knows who you are and who I am, and the best gift to give to each of us.

"So, just kind of in summary, it says, 'A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the spiritual gift gives the ability to give wise advice, to another the same spirit gives a gift of special knowledge, and it can be you have great faith. Some people get the gift of healing, and some people have the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy.'

"And of course The Bible is full of prophecies and people getting messages from angels in dreams. And so I was so confused and was like, 'What's the difference between that and what I'm doing? Help me out here.' And so the bottom line that I was told is that if God wants to give you and I a message, God will give us a message.

"It could be in response to our question. Very often the prophets would go to God; very often for the kings or the community and ask God a question. And God will give us the message, sometimes through angels. A lot of the messages in The Bible came through God's holy angels. Some of them are known and named. Some of them are called 'an angel of the lord' or 'the angel of the lord.'

"And so, God determines the messages. So that's the really important turn in my compass: to always make sure that I'm going straight to God for messages and for healing and help.

"So, The Bible says, 'no mediumship.' My understanding - now, this is me, this is not based on any kind of seminary work, because I'm not a Bible expert - but, my understanding is people were going to deceased people for guidance instead of God. And so the whole theme of God's laws is about, 'Talk to me. Talk to me. Talk to me.'

"Same with healing modalities. Make sure you're getting the healing directly from God, and not from some symbols, some beings. Go directly to the source. And it's so much more effective that way.

"So, when I asked holy spirit about my ability to see, what I was told was to stop using it 'like a trick pony.' When people asked me for readings, I would give them readings like put a quarter in the slot and turn the dial and there's a reading. To wait for God to inspire these messages. I don't call them readings anymore. To wait for God to do this.

"And so, instead of doing predictions, it's more about contemplation, which is thinking about and receiving messages. So, it's a subtle shift. I just want you to see that because I know a lot of people have gone into fear and speculation about my changes.

"So anyway, with regard to Tarot, I was going to them for answers as opposed to going to God, and so I saw that was not to do. I suppose someone could use Tarot to go directly to God. I mean, you'd have to pray to see if that's aligned with you.

"For me, my still-friend Radleigh Valentine and I talked about this, and he's - I told him he's taking his training wheels off and going on his own now, because we worked together for so long, and we still love each other, and he's on his own path now.

"So, what I did was, I told Hay House to take the royalties I was being paid for Tarot cards, and give them to their charity, Hay Foundation. Don't even give me the money so I would get a tax deduction for charity. It goes directly to the charity. And then, in about a year, I'll just take my name off those Tarot cards.

"And I told Hay House - I didn't tell them, I talked with them and shared with them - that I could no longer write about anything that wasn't scriptural. And I have to be honest, there was a part of me prepared that Hay House would say, 'Well, it was nice knowing you.' But they were very open.

"Reid Tracy, the president of Hay House - great guy, big, big heart; I've known him since 1993; he's the real deal. And so I told him all about my Jesus experience that I had, and that I was just in this, and that... ... ... So, I told Reid Tracy, the president of Hay House, about this, and I said, 'Look, I can't go backwards. I can't write about some of the things I was writing about before.'

"And I said, 'And I want to take the ascended masters book and cards out of print, just in case people are misunderstanding those products and causing them to worship idols or deities other than God.'

"So he said, 'No problem.' He was so great about it.

"And I said, 'I'm only going to write Christian-based products. You know, books and cards and such.'

"And he said, 'No problem.' ... ... ...

"And then I made changes to Instagram and Facebook, where I was no longer doing predictions or reading the energy of the day. I was simply contemplating. I would pull a card and I would contemplate on what it meant rather than getting advice outside of God. And praying to God, 'Should I stop using cards altogether?' I have not got that message. If I do, I would, but I have not.

"I was told, 'It's the way you use cards' that's the determining factor. Sorcery and divination and fortune-telling are forbidden in The Bible. But, if you use something - you could open up a magazine or open up The Bible or a phone book and just whatever you hit you contemplate on it, and so it's like that. So it's different than predicting."

The video I once linked to on YouTube has been removed.

Deep breath. And again.

My Religious Background

I was baptized Catholic, and then rebaptized and raised Episcopalian, aka "light Catholic." I was in the choir from age five. I was an acolyte. I was an angel in the live Nativity. I had my first cup of coffee (so much cream and sugar) at coffee hour at St. Luke's Episcopal. :-) I love the ritual of it even today; the familiarity of the hymns; the cadence of the prayers and creeds.

I began attending a community church which was a blend of Congregational and Methodist, and was attended by a lot of self-proclaimed "recovering" Catholics. The people were wonderful. I sang in the choir and participated in bell choir. I love it, too, even though I haven't attended since 2004.

What I don't love about either form of religion is the patriarchy of it and the restriction of it. For me, now, it's too old-paradigm; too oppressive.

That's where I'm at, personally. And yet I have nothing against anyone who may be called into its - or any other organized religion's - structure, Doreen Virtue included.

My Response to the Video

As I transcribed that section of the video above, I found myself close to tearing up over what appeared to me - felt to me - to be a return to some level of unconsciousness.

Having already heard of it, I was unsurprised by her comments on Tarot and mediumship. I admit, however, to being a little shocked when she advised not to receive healing from "some symbols," which is a pretty direct shot at Reiki, even without mentioning it by name.

And it strikes me that the Episcopal church she describes at the top of the video is far more inclusive than she's now choosing to be. For that matter, so is Pope Francis, who I respect for the progress he's made toward a more inclusive church.

For her to first denounce all ascended masters not of a Christian faith, and then to denounce Tarot (some of the symbolism of which is actually rooted in Christianity, ironically), and then to denounce mediumship and Reiki, feels uncomfortably out of character with the entirety of her spiritual body of work.

My Feelings About Tarot

I love working with Tarot, and that's something I wouldn't have said just a short 18 months ago. I find Tarot to be truthful and pointed. It doesn't walk on eggshells or dance around subjects. Instead, it dives right into the heart of any matter.

It's that truthfulness, pointedness and deep-diving nature that initially turned me off to it. It turns out, I didn't want to know the truth.

When I found Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot cards, I was intrigued. The fact that they were "toned" by angels opened the door, and I walked in. After a few years of working with them, I was guided to purchase the Universal Waite Tarot deck, which is the Rider-Waite Smith system; very traditional.

At first, The Devil and The Tower and Death were hugely off-putting for me. They really pushed my ego buttons. And then I began understanding their light; their purpose. I discovered they were great teachers.

There is nothing evil or anti-Christ or anti-God or anti-church-of-choice about Tarot. That sort of egoic energy and posturing can only be brought to the cards by the person using them.

If they're used with the light of the soul, they will bring messages from the light. If they're used with the ego, they will bring messages not necessarily from the light.

My Feelings About Mediumship

Mediumship is one of the many abilities I work with on the daily, and yet it wasn't anything I sought out or trained for. One day, during an angel card reading for someone, energy came through that requested a message be delivered to my client. In the moment, I relayed what I was feeling and hearing and seeing. Just like that, I was a medium.

It was extraordinary and humbling. My client cried. I cried. It was so very healing. It was so very affirming of life in its totality. It was also very much a doorway to deeper understanding about the nature of our souls and the *lack* of disconnect that occurs even after physical death.

Can mediumship be misused? Yes, in that the medium who is pressured to engage with the spirit realms without benefit of shielding and intention could inadvertently connect with lower-level energies. Yes, in that a medium may make a conscious choice to connect with lower-level energies.

Notice, here, that as with Tarot, it falls upon the user - the medium - to be in awareness of soul over ego; to connect for the greater good.

My Feelings About Reiki

I'm a certified Reiki master teacher. Reiki has helped me in countless ways - way beyond "just" healing body and mind. The vibration of Reiki is so high as to make a connection with the soul energy, even if the practitioner isn't of that thought or belief pattern.

I don't currently practice Reiki - at least, not in the way I was taught. I no longer use symbols because I find I no longer need them.

When the Master Energy was brought through me in 2015, my way of practicing energy healing changed. It became enrobed with the energies of Jesus, Mary, the Buddha, the archangels, and many other ascended masters. And then there was another shift in 2016, and what was the Master Energy became something else; something that remains nameless beyond my acknowledgement of its base similarity to Reiki and Master Energy.

Now, my hands "light up" with the simple intention to offer healing for the higher purpose of the person in need, and for the greater good of all. I no longer need the Byosen scan, as I ask for guidance instead and my hands unfailingly are drawn where they need to be. I've become a vessel for healing, rather than a channel for healing.

In that healing space there is nothing but light; nothing but divinity; nothing but love.

Can Reiki be used in an egoic way? It could be attempted, and yet it will be as though there is no Reiki because the ego shuts down the healing mechanism as effectively as the off switch shuts down a light. Can it be used in an "evil" way? No. Evil is born and bred from ego.

(Notice the common thread between these three modalities? When the ego gets involved is when things can go awry.)

Forward and Backward

Here's my concern about her change of heart since earlier this year, and its widening track: It feels like a colossal step backwards in terms of the overarching spiritual evolution at hand. It feels like a colossal step backwards for the divine feminine.

For a long time, Doreen Virtue seemed ahead of the curve. She lit the way for so many lightworkers. She reminded us of the light-filled power of what my guides term "the old ways," when humans believed in and "abided" with spirits, fairies, angels, ascended masters; when they reverberated with the song of all elemental energies, from Earth to stars.

Now, it's as though she's taking it all back, claiming a great portion of her own teachings as false and perhaps blasphemous. I have a sense of her being swallowed by darkness; being sucked into a black hole; a vacuum of some kind.

And yet it doesn't look that way, does it? She looks radiant and peaceful.

Even so, it feels unnatural, to me. It doesn't feel holy or soul-y. And it concerns me that some of her followers may follow suit because it's what she's doing, rather than it being a genuine call from their own soul.

When I review the entire situation in a purely visual energetic way, I notice dark making an effort to regain lost ground. It wants to retain control, rather than entering into balance with light. It's stirring things up; stirring people up. It's raising doubt and fear. That's my perspective.

Do her recent actions and words render her disingenuous, or at least misrepresentative? Maybe. Is she saying she was led astray in some way during her "glory days"? Possibly. Except...

Evolution and Devolution and Lessons

We all have our journey, here on Earth and that journey includes all manner of evolution and also devolution. With both evolution and devolution come life lessons, and it's more than likely they're lessons we agreed to before incarnating into our present lifetimes.

Considering that perspective, perhaps we could respect her choices, and what they're raising within us. Perhaps we could look to our own evolution and devolution with our third eye, and hold an inquiry in our heartspace toward better understanding of ourselves and our souls and why we're here. We all have lessons to learn.

No Book-Burning

I know one thing, for sure: I'm not giving away or burning or otherwise disposing of Doreen Virtue's book on the ascended masters, as she recommended back in April. I thought - think - it was great. For the most part, I enjoy her books.

I'm sending out rays of peace to all thrust into uncertainty through this situation. May we turn to meditation or prayer to realize our own truth. ♥

What do you feel about this? Did you realize Reiki was part of "the denunciation"?

Peace. Blessings. Light. Love. ~Ellen