About Licia

I am a North Carolina native, born on the Outer Banks, where it is said that my English ancestors washed ashore from a shipwreck and married into the local Indian population (the Hatteras Powhatan, a branch of the Algonquin).  This represents my father's side of the family; my mother hails from the North East US, bringing Scottish, English, German, Austrian, Russian, and a Spaniard (!!!)  into my physical blend.  I have understood that my hybrid make-up is something that I chose so that I could relate to everyone, to find common ground in some way. I am not restricted by prejudice or boundaries of class or country.  I see humanity as a whole. 

 I am told my first word was "Light!" and my first sentence was "I wanna go on a trip!"  That was a little too early for me to remember, but these interests are absolutely reflective of my essence.  My childhood memory from age 3 and onward is amazingly intact.  My loves as a child were nature, road trips, music and books.  My first teacher was nature; the trees and plants and rocks and wind and ocean talked to me, and I felt soothed by them.  I heard/felt/saw spirits and angels from very early; my earliest memory of experiencing a non-physical intelligence was when I was 3 years old.  I was sitting in the corner of my sandbox on an early fall day; it was chilly and damp, and there was a black spider in the far corner across the expanse of wet sand from me.  I was feeling pretty lonely and bleak; I imagine the arrival of my younger sister was something I was still trying to comprehend.  I was feeling pretty sad and sorry for myself, when I felt a warmth come around me from behind, like giant loving arms, and a sensation of being very gently hugged. At the same time, I got a sensation of "You're going to be alright.  We love you."  It was in the same year that Archangel Michael appeared in my second story bedroom window one night, with a beatific, reassuring smile on his face.

I lived in the south most of my life, mostly in North Carolina and the Atlanta area.  Like everything, living in the south had its positives and negatives.  The landscape, the ocean, the apparent warmth of people, the culture of civility and entertaining and the extensive dramatic history were all charming and captivating to me.  However, I was aghast at the open prejudice and cruelty I witnessed, and personally wounded by the religious intolerance I encountered.  It was traumatic and enraging when grown men and women told me I was going to hell because my family did not attend church.  I knew better; I had experienced the love of what they called “God” directly.  God and the Angels were not judging and punishing in my experience.  How dare they think they had the corner on reality?  This great learning has helped me very much in my own tolerance of ideas other than my own.

It is important to share that I experienced alcoholism and sexual and emotional abuse in my family of origin.  I have done a lot of work about this over the 20 years (I am now 41 as I write) since I decided I wanted to live, and no longer see it these experiences as a label or badge for myself or an identity to carry around in front of me.  It is something that I experienced that was and is exceedingly painful, and I would not wish it on anyone.  However, it contributed to making me the strong, courageous and powerful woman I am today.  My non-physical allies were a very big part in helping me decide to stay here on earth and guided me in miraculous ways to a better life.

College life was pretty predictable; I knew how to make good grades, so I did that.  I knew how drink alcohol, so I did that.  I knew how to give my body over to the desires of others, so I did that.  I got myself into a few abusive relationships, got back out, transferred to Atlanta to Georgia State, and tried to live my life as a single woman putting myself through college in the Big City.  I found that I did not have the internal survival skills to make good decisions for myself.  My junior year of college my grades started slipping; I went out at night to dance at the clubs, where folks would buy me drinks and I’d dance my anger out.  Looking for love, I engaged in sexual relationships that weren’t supportive.   I began to lose the sense of being guided by loving spirits and angels; I drew to me instead guides who did not have my best interest at heart.  I felt very physically run down and emotionally and mentally fatigued, but didn’t know how to be different; I was living what I’d learned from my upbringing.  I could feel the holes in my energy field; I experienced myself as a dirty, shredded fabric blowing the wind.  I was on a downward spiral.

 It was at age 21 when I was driving down Monroe Avenue, in an exhausted fog from my crazy life, when I heard distinctly a voice next to me in the car say “If you keep this up, you will be dead by the time you are twenty-five.”  I actually looked over to see who was in the front seat with me; the voice was that clear.  No one was physically there, but I definitely got the message.  For some amazing reason, I really heard it in my heart and knew it was true, and that if I wanted to be on the earth I needed to change.  So I started with the obvious; I quit going out to the clubs, quit sleeping with whoever bought me a drink, and quit drinking altogether.  I focused on my school work and on getting some sleep.  There is no question in my mind that I got an exceedingly huge amount of angelic help to pull me up off the ground; I felt supported and renewed.  I felt like a devout nun in a monastery; my life felt scrubbed clean!  Then, three weeks after the voice spoke to me and I made the choice to stay on the earth, I met my life partner in a miraculous moment (see Meeting Peter) and my life took its defining turn upward.  I have since learned that because I made the choice in my heart and soul to change, I was given the awesome spiritual assistance to turn things around, and my future husband (who I’d made a soul contract with prior to incarnating) was waiting in the wings for me to make this choice.  Whew!  Glad I did!

 I graduated with a five year bachelor’s degree in Fine Art and Education.  Professionally, I have been a waiter (I feel everyone should take a turn at this very demanding job-great spiritual training!), a public school teacher, a one-on-one trainer with families affected by developmental disabilities, a program evaluator, non-profit project coordinator, events coordinator and consultant.  Running throughout all of my work like a golden thread is the desire to teach others to heal themselves.  I started taking professional training in the healing arts in 1995, reclaiming and honing the innate talents I had as a child.  Over the years I studied Healing Touch, Quantum Touch, Reiki, and Shamanism.  I attracted several teachers, some physical and some non-physical, that guided me through exactly what I needed to explore at that time.  I have studied all of the worlds’ religious traditions and teachings of the mystics and became a non-denominational reverend (no one religion is big enough for me!)  But my life experience of 20 years in my own process of recovery in psycho-therapy, massage and body work, art therapy, group work, exquisitely guided spiritual work, intimate relationship of unconditional love with my husband, and finally full reclamation of my intuitive abilities is the basis for my rich understanding of the courage and wisdom to heal.  It is through this that I am able to offer others the safe space, the wisdom, and the personal experience of the healing process.  It was when 9-11 happened that I got a clear message that I no longer had the luxury of hiding out anymore, attempting to do my healing work in “socially acceptable” ways (through teaching, non-profit work, etc.)  It was time to come out and be who I really am.  So I did!

 Over the last 20 years I feel I have lived many lifetimes; I have transformed that much!  I have moved from unconsciousness to consciousness; victim to creator; feeling unloved and disconnected from Source to awareness and experience of my constant connection with Source.  Of course, it has been a process (and continues to be!)  I feel we as humans are works in progress; we are perfect, and we can choose to be more perfect all the time.

 I am now a mother of two beautiful boys (who teach me all the time); our family took a 2 year trip in an RV after selling our home and belongings in Asheville, NC.  We had many amazing adventures, guided by Spirit each day as to where to go.  Through our travels and “coincidental” meetings with wonderful people, we have wound up in the gorgeous San Luis Valley of southern Colorado; the comparisons to the high valleys of the Himalayas are accurate.  It is a place of very high vibration (one of ten places in the world, I am told by AA Raphael), and it is a perfect energetic match for our family and the work I do.  I envision someday having a retreat center here for folks to come to restore, renew and heal themselves in lasting and profound ways.

 I am a teacher, writer, facilitator, speaker and artist in my professional life.  And I love my work so much; I love witnessing others wake up to their divinity, the miraculous smiles on their faces as they experience the wondrous soul that they really are.  I am so very privileged to live this life, and I give thanks every day for this opportunity to be human at this time on earth.