Soul SiStories
Soul SiStories was born out of a mutual desire to bring forward hope and healing through sharing our lived experiences. Hope is embracing life despite adversity. Hope is our reason.
Soul SiStories
Connection Series: Start Connecting
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What if the only thing between you and a real connection is the belief that you’re “not gifted”? Dona and Diana get honest about the question they hear all the time: how do you actually start connecting with loved ones in spirit when you feel like you’re starting from nothing. We’ve met people who sensed spirit their whole lives, and we’ve also watched beginners build strong, meaningful spirit communication step by step. This conversation is for the second group and for anyone who wants hope that practice can change everything.
We walk through the tools that helped us most: guided meditations (including structured journey-style practices), tarot and oracle cards, dowsing rods, and pendulums for yes or no answers and even spelling out messages. We also talk about automatic writing, building a steady meditation habit, and how online resources opened up spiritual development for so many people. Along the way, we share specific books and teachers that support beginners with practical, grounded guidance.
Then we go to the part many people don’t say out loud: fear. If you grew up with religious warnings or scary ideas about “magic,” you’re not alone. We explain what helped us move through that fear, why personal autonomy and boundaries matter, and why we see this work as rooted in love, light, and safety. We also dig into validation and evidential mediumship, including how to ask for details you can confirm and how to request signs you’ll recognize in real life.
If you’re ready to experiment, trust yourself, and find what works for you, press play and try one small practice this week. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations.
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Welcome And The Big Question
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Soul Sisteries.
SPEAKER_00Hey guys, here we are. Donna and Diana sitting down to chat with you a little bit about one of the questions that we get asked sometime. And it's really just like, how do you get started connecting? And you've heard from us already, you know, we've talked about mediumship a little bit and Donna's journey and mine jumping in. But I think today we just want to spend a few minutes talking about, you know, what are some of the tools we've used or others have used to start the connection?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. That there are those out there. Like we just had a conversation with the fabulous medium Isabella Johnson, that people can see in our Hope Through series. Um, and you know, she she lifelong, absolutely always could, you know, connected. People were there, and um, you know, it was apparent from the beginning. And we've got on that end of the spectrum. And then there are those who are starting, even mediums, even super skilled mediums who are starting from ground zero. They're not aware of any kind of connection that they have, and they dig in with the tools that
Tools To Start Connecting
SPEAKER_02are before them. So let's share some of those things. You are a really good student of all of this, sis. You've done a you have explored a lot of practice. So jump in, like where how where did you start?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you know, it's funny because I didn't start right away with mediumship because I didn't know that was an option, right? I I thought somebody was born a medium or you were gifted, you know, this this I don't know, this magic that everybody else couldn't have. And so I went down the path of like knowing that Kenny and David were around, but how to find them, right? So there were, you know, various tools. I will say one of the tools I used early on, um, great book by Christina Rasmussen, but it's uh her temple journey. And it was kind of a meditation process, several steps, but kind of doing this journey to connect with your loved one. That was fabulous. Um, use tarot cards, oracle cards, um, dousing rods, pendulums, a lot of pendulum, a lot of teaching by pendulum, even um, you know, we could talk about that a little bit, the pendulum, like with the yesno, but even the alphabet. So pointing out and spelling out words for me. Um, what else? Um, you know, guided meditation, not just the temple journey, but other guided meditations, tons that I found on YouTube, the Monroe Institute, um, some great ones. Um, some of Suzanne Giesman's tools. You know, I just took that dive into and remember it was 2020 and everything was online. Yeah. And um, there was so much available to me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and there were even mediums who were doing free sessions. I mean, there was so much that was the time, that was the beauty of 2020, right? All the stuff that was out there and the way that people were connecting. And I mean, you can get free guitar lessons and like it was just all all over the place, everything that was available.
SPEAKER_00You know, that's it. James von Prague, very famous medium, he started hosting during the pandemic um a daily series. And he was online, I think it was at noon every day, Monday through Friday, and then he had a nighttime thing one or twice once or twice a week with um an amazing medium and psychotherapist Kelly White, and they did a great show together. Um, it's still running, but they were online all the time. So there was, you know, he was doing quick little 10-minute meditations and visualizations and stuff. And so it was really um, like I said, I took that deep dive. I started doing automatic writing and a lot of meditation. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. When you mentioned Suzanne Giesman, too, we can I can um uh state her name again because that she's a great resource or reference for people who are also starting sort of from that ground zero. Yeah, she did. She had a loss and began exploring and has built up quite a following and quite a renown. It's a completely legit um medium and long waiting lists and whatnot.
SPEAKER_00So yeah. Yeah, I think I think I was on her list for almost three years. Um, did get a reading. But you know what? I'm looking over at my bookshelf now with I mean, I can't even tell you, I probably bought, I know at least 50 books during that first year. Um, books that Suzanne Giesman recommended, that others recommended. Another great book, Choosing to Be a Medium by Sharon Farber. And I've had, you know, the opportunity to join her uh mediumship circles in different training groups.
Books Courses And Pandemic Resources
SPEAKER_02And that one's a great one because it is super practical and it really is for the novice. And as she she talks about that as well, like coming from zero, zero, and and again, not only does she is she a practicing medium, but she teaches a lot of uh courses and helps others in their journey as well.
SPEAKER_00And I think that uh Donna, from for me, starting from zero, it was one thing to know this is possible by these amazing mediums who have been doing it all their lives. And so that you know, gave me hope, the knowledge that our loved ones still here, right? The soul doesn't die. That was really important to me, but that that didn't help me believe that it was possible for anybody. Right. It is it is the stories from those who started from zero that really did make the and I say start from zero, but I don't think that's true because we all have something.
SPEAKER_02Do we totally we just don't always recognize what it is?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So I think you know, there's there's tools that I found that might resonate with me, but don't resonate with somebody else. And so I think my answer to what do you do is be willing to try it all. And if it doesn't speak to you, then move on, right? Or or if you don't find truth and value in it, then that's okay. That doesn't mean that it's not valuable for somebody else. But um, you know, I I I'll share that in a a reading, you know, I used to have regular readings to connect with my loved ones, and I remember things were easy and they can come through, but then I remember getting several readings in a row with different people where loved ones on the other side talked about that it was kind of boring to do the same thing over and over. To have the same medium read for you over and over. Because, like, like we are always learning here on earth, they wanted to keep learning. So it was like try something different. Go to the pendulum, go to the tarot card, go to automatic writing, you know. Um, try something different. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It's so interesting talking about this too, because that is a totally valid and worthwhile and wondrous journey. Now, the journey that I had was I had to move through and out of fear into embrace and acceptance. And I still and I used the tools also, that was part of that too. So there, they're everybody's going to be coming at this from a different place. And these different tools are valuable and worthwhile no matter what. But there's another thing that I want to mention too, because this is um a fear place that a lot of people come to this practice with. And you right from the outset, you use use the word magic, and the idea of magic is so freaky to many people, and there are certain religious philosophies and ideologies that espouse that those are playing with dangerous things and getting into I of course don't adhere to any of that, but when I was much, much younger, I did have a lot of fear around this because I was taught things about evil and the power and what people should not play with. And I just, I mean, that's just no part of my world anymore, but it was deep and profound at a certain time. And when I say I had to move through it, I really I really did have to find a way to another side. So everybody gets to have whatever their own beliefs are. Of course, um, I can only share from my
Try Many Methods And Rotate
SPEAKER_02experience and many, many, many, many, many others that we're we're talking about a realm of love and only love, light and only light, good and only good. Um, so uh for me, I just want to say there's nothing to fear here. There is nothing that can get you that, there's nothing that can invade you that you like don't welcome into your presence. Like you are you have autonomy over yourself and your field. So there's no there's no force that's going to take you or even wants to.
SPEAKER_00So right, right. You know, it I was just thinking about you coming from this from the mediumship perspective and already knowing how to connect with others' loved ones, right? You've done that always. And there's you know, and I know we ask others that we talk to, like, can you just connect with your own loved ones? And it's a lot harder to connect with your own loved ones. So then people are like, well, why is why can I connect with so-and-so's, you know, grandma, but I can't connect with my own. And it is that our own mind and our own experience get in the way, right? So I wonder if you could talk, because you know, we've talked about this before, you and I. How do you um when you connect with people you know, like you connect with with my guy in spirit often, and you've known him well, you've known him you know, for 30 plus years. So, how do you make sure that it's not your own mind making these things up?
SPEAKER_02Because you know a lot about
Moving Past Fear And Staying Safe
SPEAKER_02well, you hear me say often, and it's true, that David is really good at this. And one of the first things that he said, I mean, I think it was the day that he died. I don't know, was right away. And he showed me himself in this workshop, and he told me to let you know that he was gonna figure this thing out and he was gonna get good at it, and you needed to figure it out, and you get like this was his mission, and man, is he good at it? Like he connects all over the place with all kinds of people, he's a go-to for mediums, like he opens doorways and he just is good at doing it. And one of the things I asked him, because I needed to believe it too. I'm like, how in the hell am I gonna get um uh the evidence for you that's not I don't just know this? And from the outset, he found the stuff, and it was stuff I'm and I'm sharing with you. I'm going, what the heck is this? I don't even but he gave this, but it was in this way, and he da-da-da-da-da. And you totally knew what it was. I didn't, and it was super validating for me as a medium. Like, dang, that's a thing. And I learned from that also just to stop doubting the stuff that gets. I get I get evidence for people on reading for that just feels so random, off the wall, weird, or even like insignificant, but it's the thing, it's the thing that they go, oh my god, yeah, that's uh, you know, that's so and so. And um, I I love that so much. I love the potency of all that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So, so in my experience, I you know what, because you've connected with David a lot for me, and you get the whole story, and and I go back to what it was two days after he passed away, where you were giving me all this information and it was beautiful and lovely, and I loved receiving that information, but I also had this piece of me going, okay, and you know him and you know what I need to hear. And so of course you're gonna tell me all these things, you know, especially the, you know, he's with you, he's not leaving, he loves you, you know, those kind of things. Um, but then there were very specific things where you would add, and I guess this is where that evidential piece comes in, right? Where you would ask him, tell me something I don't know. And I there's so many things. I mean, I remember something that he told you that he did when he was a little boy, that you had never heard that story, and it's not one that he would have shared. I remember what it was. It was an altar boy story. Yeah, it was, yeah. So it well, he wasn't an altar boy, but it was a church story. A church story, yes. While he was a Boy Scout. Um, any Boy Scouts listening, you'll know that story. Um, you know, there was something about a sports team he liked that made no sense to you, but it was one of the first-cause the colors were all weird. And I'm like, what the heck is that? What? Yes, but but he was talking about their original colors, right? And so, I mean, there were or there's things that he tells you specifically, like something that's going on in my life right now that you don't know about. I mean, even as simple as, you know, I I'm this isn't one, but like Diana was working in the garden today, you know, you might get that. Well, you don't know that I'm working in the garden today, but he told you I was doing, you know, right. And so there's those little things. So I think for us that are just starting, when we, you know, like with mediumship, when we read for somebody else, the sitter validates for us. But how do we validate for ourselves? Yeah, it is that piece of okay, honey, or okay, child, or okay, dog that I'm connecting with. You need to give me something that I can validate today or tomorrow. Like, you know, give me that sign in the grocery store that tells me this is exactly what we were talking about.
SPEAKER_02Right, which we've learned through this practice and using these tools. One of them is you can ask the question, right? You can ask
Evidence Versus Imagination
SPEAKER_02the question and expect that answer, or you can throw out, like, I need to see such and such. Show me the, you know, the purple elephant or whatever it is, and and there it is, there it is in response. So um, you know, we are all learning and we have different, like we're better at it at different days, feeling differently, and also those in spirit have like they're not just a perfect machine or a monolith where everybody is all the same, always. We are all, you know, energy expressing, and so we find our groove. And I when I say like David is really good at it, he's just found ways to connect in myriad ways and using everything at his disposal and working with the you know earthly energies and ordered, you know, electricity and what like and we've talked about music coming through with various songs. He's he's good at other others, are really good at it too, or they have their own particular thing, or certain mediums and they connect because they dial into the same frequency easily. I don't know. They're just there's so many paths. My start of this, and what I want to reiterate, and I guess you know, try it, everyone, and you will discover yourself. There is nothing to fear, nothing can hurt you, nothing can hurt you. Yeah, you are autonomous, you are in mastery of yourself, nothing will invade you or take over, which was my massive, massive fear when I was a little girl. I grew up in the era of the exorcist, right? And that things are gonna, and I thought, you know, through our religion and was taught God is all powerful, but that Satan had a power too. And um, I'm like, well, what's a little thing like me who's so sensitive? How am I gonna be protected against this force? You know, what's going to keep me safe so I'm not in an exorcist situation, right? And then what do I do? And I really I lived with that massive fear day in and day
Asking For Signs And Validation
SPEAKER_02out for years, years. And I'm like, oh my goodness, God bless that little girl that I was. I had no idea how safe and loved and cared for I was, and of course, there were a lot of things in the world, human to human, that were not safe in my in my world, also. So there was that factor as well. But I just um I I guess I just want to share with others all is well, and you are safe and you are loved, and you have guides and angels, and you're so so cared for in spirit that this is only good and loving practice. And I I wish that there wasn't all this fear attached to it. It's so silly what we do. I know I'm rambling, but I want to share one other story because this was also very awakening to me. When I had my first son, Kenny, and he was a little boy. I remember going on the ride, the Haunted Mansion with him at Disneyland. I was, when I was a little girl, I was terrified of this ride because I thought, you know, this this craziness that we have do all these stories like ghosts are scary and they're out to get us. And like, what the nonsense that we tell. I was afraid of this. It was crazy that when I started working at Disneyland, they put me on that ride and I worked on that ride. So Kenny, uh he's just a little boy who wanted to go on that ride, and he like laughed through the whole thing. And it was such an awakening to me, oh my god, that's right. This is funny. This is humorous, this is not meant to be realistic or taken seriously. This is funny. I mean, it just really struck me, and uh I mean what a teacher our children are. So that's just it. All the these are human stories that we tell. All the fear and the heaviness, the darkness around this is such nonsense.
SPEAKER_00Truly is. Yeah. So I think I think really that you know the gist of this is to just get started and just pick any tool, any I was gonna say medium,
Haunted Mansion Lesson On Fear
SPEAKER_00but I don't mean a medium in in giving the reading, but I mean a medium as an um anything that looks interesting to you and give it a try and give it a try more than once. Yes, you know, the person that's like, okay, what is this? And um explore it a little bit. And I think again, that's how I found hope. It was just through the starting and realizing, like, oh, this thing is interesting, and this is kind of helping me to connect. And um, there's days where I need to use the tools more than others, and then there's times that I don't, and it I think it really kind of depends on what's going on in my life, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, jump in, see what happens, explore and share with us what what you're doing and what works for you. We'd love to hear from you also and hear what you have to say. Thanks everyone for listening and
Closing And Staying In Touch
SPEAKER_02uh hope your connections today are beautiful.
SPEAKER_01Get started, guys. Thanks for joining us today on Soul Systries.
SPEAKER_02And thanks for sharing stories with us. We'd love to hear your stories as well and keep the conversation going, absolutely keeping the hope going. So we're really hopeful that you'll connect with our guests as well who have great stories to share. Go ahead and follow them in various social media platforms or live venues, wherever it is that they're performing and uh sharing what they do.
SPEAKER_01We would love to have you follow us on all of our social media platforms, subscribe and rate, as that will help us get our message of hope out to others.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for listening to Soul Sisteries.
