Summary
Highlights
Shelley shares her upbringing in the Mormon church, initially striving to be the 'best little girl.' Her perspective dramatically shifted after smoking marijuana at 18, leading her to question established beliefs. She found that cannabis facilitated reflection, which she believes is crucial for personal growth.
Shelley explores the period after leaving the church, where she pursued exploration and curiosity. At age 30, she sought deeper fulfillment beyond material pursuits, leading to sobriety and a successful occupational therapy practice. However, she later realized she manifested breast cancer and lymphedema, a subconscious desire to spend more time with her children. This epiphany fueled her journey to intentionally create a vital life.
Shelley recounts her battle with trigeminal neuralgia, a result of chemotherapy, and her decision to wean off powerful painkillers with the help of cannabis. She emphasizes that art and a newfound understanding of spirit helped her overcome a major depressive episode. She highlights a five-step prayer practice for recognizing the divine, unifying with it, and realizing one's creations.
Shelley explains how she began using tarot cards in her occupational therapy practice to connect with patients on a deeper, emotional level. She describes the different suits of tarot (swords, wands, cups, pentacles) as representing various energies and aspects of life, and how she used them to help patients understand their inner selves.
Shelley discusses the role of shame in limiting human potential and how she learned to adopt a 'God perspective' when talking to herself, fostering self-acceptance and growth. She recounts witnessing miracles in her patients' healing, attributing it to the divine channeling through them when thoughts and fears are set aside.
Shelley shares her journey through different spiritual communities, finding a home in the Church of Religious Science (now Spiritual Living Centers). She explains that this philosophy, rooted in metaphysics, emphasizes that thoughts are creative and shape reality. She asserts that individuals are co-creators with divine intelligence and that conscious interaction with this intelligence leads to desired outcomes.
Shelley recounts a personal crisis that involved murderous intentions, leading her to develop a 'chillax pack' as a tool for emotional regulation and conscious reaction. She then explains her identity as a 'good witch,' defining it as a person (male or female) in total control of themselves, driven by love and service to others.
Shelley provides a mini-masterclass on tarot, explaining the division between the Major Arcana (spiritual lessons) and Minor Arcana (everyday lessons). She demonstrates how she interprets cards, focusing on helping people find their highest and best good, and encourages stepping into the unknown to discover deeper spiritual meaning.
Shelley emphasizes her practice of giving only positive tarot readings, believing that people will manifest what they expect. She likens this to the placebo effect, stating that focusing on the good leads to discovering it. She shares anecdotes of miraculous healing, underscoring the body's infinite capacity to heal when mental blocks like fear and shame are removed.
Shelley highlights the lost art of play in modern society, defining it as spontaneous, emotive, and self-perpetuating experiences. She describes her own practices of roller skating yoga and sculpture as forms of physical and spiritual meditation. She encourages everyone to reintegrate play and conscious living into their lives, emphasizing that imagination is an expression of God.