1. Your previous book was The Awakened Aura, and your new book is The Awakened Psychic. To what does "Awakened" refer in the titles? Are they companion books?

Yes, they are companion books that build on to each other. Part of the connection to intuitive/psychic abilities is the ability to see, sense, or feel auras. The Awakened Aura provides a great starting point to understanding the energy field that surrounds every living being, and The Awakened Psychic explores how we can use this energy field to expand our intuitive abilities on a greater level. My next book coming out with Llewellyn (in 2017) will be the third in this series, and will be called The Awakened Dreamer.

The word "awakened" describes the sudden shift from one form of consciousness or understanding into a greater awareness. Typically when we make this shift, we expand into a greater sense of purpose and action. I wanted to explain in these books how each person has the power to tap into their super-conscious, what I describe as the higher self. We don't have to rely on another person to tell us what being psychic is like; we can tap into our own intuitive gifts, which I believe every person has at some level.

My job as "Your Travel Guide to the Other Side" is to show each person how to awaken the intuitive abilities that they have lying dormant within. Once they awaken their inner psychic, I show them how they can harness these abilities and use them in practical ways in their careers, their relationships, and their personal spiritual journey.

2. Your previous books have spanned many topics, from auras to ghost hunting. What has your journey been like?

I came back into this lifetime remembering my past lives very vividly. In my childhood, since I can remember, I've seen auras, had prophetic dreams, and could communicate with ghosts and spirits. At the age of twelve I asked my parents if I could formally study tarot and astrology, which they allowed me to do. I continued my studies to explore the various forms of religion, philosophy, and spirituality, and in my twenties I experienced an awakening of my own, where I remembered who I was and why I was here again in this lifetime. After this experience, I began to teach and write and share, first creating a school in my local area and later expanding it to traveling around the US to teach at wonderful centers like the Omega Institute, Edgar Cayce's ARE, LilyDale Assembly, the Learning Annex, and many others. I continue to evolve how I teach, moving with the times, as I now teach webinars online, reaching students around the world with my Academy of Mystical Arts and Spiritual Sciences. While the format in which I teach continues to change, the material, which I describe as wisdom teachings, is timeless. It was taught in ancient schools in Egypt, Greece, and other wonderful cultures over the years.

My journey in this lifetime, like that of everyone else, has been filled with great joys and tremendous sorrows. I do my best to learn and grow from each of these experiences as part of my spiritual practice, which I feel has made me a better teacher and guide. I have loved and lost and while I am able to connect with loved ones on the other side, it is bittersweet. I am fortunate that I am able to connect and communicate with loved ones on the other side, while also suffering from the pain and loss of not being able to experience life with them here on the earth plane. Being psychic and an empath, I am able to experience other people's emotions at a deep and profound level, which has opened me to a tremendous love and respect for all of humanity. At the same time, I hurt when others are in pain and I hurt as the world suffers as well. I wouldn't trade my abilities for anything—they are a tremendous blessing and have taught me so much on my journey—but at times, they can also be challenging to bear. Isn't that true about most things in life, really?

3. The Awakened Psychic is all about developing our intuition and psychic skills. Why are these skills so important?

Many of us already rely on our intuitive skills in our lives, whether or not we recognize it. My clients have included people who work in the military, in the police force, on Wall Street, in the tech world, and even a few in politics. They are successful in their careers and they work with me as their Intuitive Coach, as I show them to take what they have described as "gut feelings" and to understand that this is their intuition telling them what is about to happen. Once they understand how to tap into this ability and connect with their intuitive side, I then show them how to be come more psychic, where they expand their intuition further, seeing the future.

I help my clients use this ability in their business to see future trends for example, that are coming three to five years from now, which is immensely helpful when they are working on new tech advances or the financial markets or even political temperaments.

With law enforcement or in the military, the person is able to tap into what they call their hunches and see deeper into what is going on in the case they are investigating or during a hostile situation. They also benefit from seeing auras, which show the mental and emotional state of the other person and in some cases, it can be sensed energetically if a person is in a building when they are hiding inside.

These are some of the more extreme career examples. I equally help parents who want to tap into their intuition to see how they can connect with their children on a deeper level as well as help people explore their personal relationships with their partners.

What can be done when you tap into your psychic abilities is an endless list. Maybe because I'm a Capricorn, I enjoy teaching about the practical ways that intuition can be helpful, like finding the right career for you or how to deepen your relationship with your partner or children. I also teach how to use your intuition to connect with the right real estate property for your home or office. I teach how to tap into the energy around you, to sense if the timing is right to have that discussion with that person to receive the best results for all involved or would it be better received if you waited and checked the "intuitive temperature" of the person later to see if they are more receptive to that conversation. I bet you're reading this and thinking, "Hmm, I already do some of these things;" my reply is, "See, you already are using your intuition; I'm just here to show you how to kick it up a few notches and if you're ready, to take it all the way up to mastery level."

4. Do we all have psychic skills? Or are some of us simply more "psychically gifted?"

I truly believe that we all have psychic skills. I've worked with some pretty hardened non-believers who insisted they were not, only to have them walk away from my course being the biggest psychics in the group, much to the surprise of themselves and everyone else.

When I teach a group of people to see auras, by the end of the course, most people are able to see the aura with either their physical eyes or through their third eye. It's always so fun to watch when a person sees an aura for the first time; they jump and gasp and can't look away. From there it's like riding a bike: once you learn how, you see them everywhere and with practice, you get better and better at it.

As to whether or not some of us are more psychically gifted, I would have to say that yes, that is true. This is also true of almost any ability here on earth. Are some people better at playing baseball than others? Yes. Even with practice everyday, are some people just more naturally athletic and better at baseball? Yes. The same goes if ten people practice playing the piano every day, will some of those people be more naturally gifted in playing the piano? Yes. But some of those people who are not naturally gifted will play the piano very well if they practice and apply themselves to the craft. This pretty much goes with any endeavor in life.

5. What do you hope readers will take away from The Awakened Psychic?

The three thoughts that I most want to share are:

First, I want to take the "woo-woo" aspect away from being psychic. You don't have to be Madame Kala, wearing a turban, burning incense and surrounded by crystals in order to tap into your psychic abilities. In the book, I explain what a natural and normal process this can be in your life. You can take the experience as far as is comfortable for you. Of course, the further you delve through the veil into the spiritual realms, the more unique and interesting experiences you will have—and undoubtedly some of these will be mystical woo-woo situations. And if you like wearing a turban and using crystals, go for it, I'm just saying it's not necessary. ☺

Second, we are in the process of a wonderful evolution moving from the Age of Pisces into the Age of Aquarius. The story of Aquarius is about receiving wisdom being poured from the heavens above directly to us here on earth. To translate that into these modern times, it’s about each person going within to find the answers that they seek, rather than looking outward to a guru or authority figure for the answers. With The Awakened Psychic, you learn how to tap into your intuitive abilities so that you can chart your own course and path in life. Sometimes you may still work with a psychic to help you on your journey; even most psychics have psychics that they turn to for guidance, just like in any other industry, and this is very helpful at times. The rest of the time though, you'll be able to tap into your psychic abilities to expand your career, connect on a deeper level in your relationships, and help others who will benefit from what you see, sense, and feel.

Third and most importantly, when writing the book, I intuitively had the overwhelming feeling that it was time for this information to be shared. Almost everyone I speak with has a sense of time speeding up in their lives. I believe this is because we are in the midst of an amazing spiritual evolution. The deeper wisdom of who you are at the soul level is waiting to be revealed to you. All you have to do is Awaken...