About
I'm a Board Certified Coach (BCC) and ordained Unitarian Universalist (UU) minister. Unitarian Universalism allows me to be spiritually fluid, which means I honor all spiritual orienting systems and meet people where they are.
I received a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and am an adjunct instructor there. I'm also on the Board of Directors and contribute to the curriculum of UU Wellspring, a program for spiritual deepening.
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Minister Association and Spiritual Directors International, I am bound by the ethics and codes of conduct each provides. Monthly, I receive supervision from Rev. Daniel Prechtel. I receive training and mentoring from Laurie Rainey Schmidt. More about them and other teachers below under Inspiration.
Spiritually, I identify as a mystic. As a young girl, I began to notice that when I was praying and really centered, I could tap into my inner wisdom and sense God's presence in and all around me. It was a tremendous comfort then, and it still helps me navigate the things of life. My spiritual practice always begins with a meditation that places me in an energetic landscape full of wisdom and support. It also includes rituals that honor the natural world, somatic (body-based) practices, and contemplative or shamanic journeys that allow me to sense energy and guidance. Nature is my teacher. I'm in love with the natural world and defend it with all my heart. Through the Wilderness Awareness School, I have completed the Kamana Training Levels 1 and 2. I am a Usui Reiki Practitioner and share Reiki with clients if they'd like, honoring the Japanese lineage from which it came.
For 25 years, I've been exploring my ancestors and especially their spiritualities. Christianity and pre-Christian Celtic religion are part of my own spiritual orienting system, and a way I honor my lineage (with all of its warts and wonders). I study Druidry and celebrate the wheel of the year, honoring the cycle of nature.
I received a Master of Divinity from Iliff School of Theology and am an adjunct instructor there. I'm also on the Board of Directors and contribute to the curriculum of UU Wellspring, a program for spiritual deepening.
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Minister Association and Spiritual Directors International, I am bound by the ethics and codes of conduct each provides. Monthly, I receive supervision from Rev. Daniel Prechtel. I receive training and mentoring from Laurie Rainey Schmidt. More about them and other teachers below under Inspiration.
Spiritually, I identify as a mystic. As a young girl, I began to notice that when I was praying and really centered, I could tap into my inner wisdom and sense God's presence in and all around me. It was a tremendous comfort then, and it still helps me navigate the things of life. My spiritual practice always begins with a meditation that places me in an energetic landscape full of wisdom and support. It also includes rituals that honor the natural world, somatic (body-based) practices, and contemplative or shamanic journeys that allow me to sense energy and guidance. Nature is my teacher. I'm in love with the natural world and defend it with all my heart. Through the Wilderness Awareness School, I have completed the Kamana Training Levels 1 and 2. I am a Usui Reiki Practitioner and share Reiki with clients if they'd like, honoring the Japanese lineage from which it came.
For 25 years, I've been exploring my ancestors and especially their spiritualities. Christianity and pre-Christian Celtic religion are part of my own spiritual orienting system, and a way I honor my lineage (with all of its warts and wonders). I study Druidry and celebrate the wheel of the year, honoring the cycle of nature.
The Wheel of the Year - a collage I made.
I've done ancestral research and healing rituals in Ireland and Germany where many of my ancestors resided before immigrating to the United States. White people in the U.S. have been cut off from our ancestors' spiritualities and cultures. If we are going to dismantle racism, we need to recover our roots so that we have a culture deeper than white supremacy culture to nurture us. You can work with me to do that.
Glenariff Falls in Northern Ireland where one ancestral healing ritual took place in 2019.
A mix of experience in business, ministry, chaplaincy and justice advocacy influence and enrich my work. Before attending seminary, I had a twenty-two-year career in business which included working for Procter and Gamble, Computer Associates and General Electric. Then for twelve years, a business partner and I led a woman-owned organization to offer consulting and leadership training to small and large organizations. (We had onsite daycare for our babies and offered it to employees, too.) I was an executive coach when the idea of seminary wouldn't leave my heart and soul.
Since my call to ministry and ordination, I've served as pastor of three congregations. I'm also a certified Justice Movement Chaplain and am involved as an accomplice in a variety of social and environmental justice movements.
I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and I live there now. It is the sacred and land of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) people whose governments and cultures are still alive. You can learn about the land where you live at Native Land and begin to honor those people and histories.
I'm married to Pete Dignan who supports me in all aspects of life. He loves me, and I love him back.
I have precious descendants whom I adore - two grown children, two grown step children and one step grandson. Both of my brothers live within 15 minutes of me; they have known me the longest, and we continue the shared journey. My kids, nieces and nephews are my teachers and bring me great joy as we explore becoming good ancestors ourselves.
Since my call to ministry and ordination, I've served as pastor of three congregations. I'm also a certified Justice Movement Chaplain and am involved as an accomplice in a variety of social and environmental justice movements.
I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and I live there now. It is the sacred and land of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute) and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux) people whose governments and cultures are still alive. You can learn about the land where you live at Native Land and begin to honor those people and histories.
I'm married to Pete Dignan who supports me in all aspects of life. He loves me, and I love him back.
I have precious descendants whom I adore - two grown children, two grown step children and one step grandson. Both of my brothers live within 15 minutes of me; they have known me the longest, and we continue the shared journey. My kids, nieces and nephews are my teachers and bring me great joy as we explore becoming good ancestors ourselves.
From left to right: Me, Pete, my two kids: Meghann and Michael
Inspiration & Teachers
The Transcendentalists like Thoreau are my Unitarian Universalist spiritual ancestors. Thoreau and the Language of Trees by Richard Higgins and Robert D. Richardson is a great book.
To Speak for the Trees: My Life's Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger. It seems like she speaks to me in a language I'd forgotten I had.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was a game changer for me that led me deeper and deeper into the wild.
John Philip Newell is the one who opened my eyes and heart to Celtic Christianity which lives beyond Rome, original sin and a denouncement of nature. I've been in numerous in-person workshops with him and love him to pieces.
John O'Donohue. All of his work is balm for the soul. Pure and simple.
My indigenous way of knowing and nature-based practices are honed through a mentored training in Druidry. I'm currently in the "third grade."
These practices are deepened by scholar and shamanic practitioner, Sharon Paice MacLeod and her book, Celtic Myth and Religion.
Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred by Victoria Loorz was music to my ears and inspired me to start Wild Church Denver.
Plants That Speak, Souls That Sing: Transform Your Life with the Spirit of Plants by Fay Johnstone. Her work supports many aspects of my path - nature-based, energetic, Celtic, and core shamanic practices.
Peter Levine and Staci Haines help me develop somatic awareness and practices.
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem and his work on Somatic Abolitionism has changed my life. I completed his course Foundations of Somatic Abolitionism for White Bodies. I don't teach his material but continue to practice it. Racism lives in our histories and bodies and can't be deconstructed in our minds or conversations. We have to identify it in our lineage and move it out of our bodies.
Tema Okun and all with whom she collaborates on White Supremacy Culture push me to dismantle the white supremacy that lives in me.
My supervisor is Rev. Daniel Prechtel, a spiritual director and author of Soul Journeys: Christian Spirituality and Shamanism as Pathways for Wholeness and Understanding
by Daniel L. Prechtel, John R. Mabry and Katrina Leathers.
I receive training and mentoring from Laurie Rainey Schmidt. She has over 30 years experience as a shamanic practitioner with advanced training through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies with Michael Harner. She has also done advanced studies with Tom Cowan, Betsy Bergstrom and is authorized to teach by Sandra Ingerman.
Kelly Arora is my friend and colleague. Her book Talks with Spirit provides a clear description of how to get started in a shamanic journeying and healing practice.
Wounded into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone. I've attended Tirzah's ancestral healing workshop in person and am grateful for her healing presence in my life.
Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing by Daniel Foor. This book was my companion on one ancestral pilgrimage. Since then, my processes have shifted, but I'm grateful for Daniel's good work on this important subject.
Annie Browning and Ann Marie Early are some of my ongoing teachers. Their book is Energetic Awakening: Living a Guided Life, and their practice is Common Awakening.
The Transcendentalists like Thoreau are my Unitarian Universalist spiritual ancestors. Thoreau and the Language of Trees by Richard Higgins and Robert D. Richardson is a great book.
To Speak for the Trees: My Life's Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger. It seems like she speaks to me in a language I'd forgotten I had.
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was a game changer for me that led me deeper and deeper into the wild.
John Philip Newell is the one who opened my eyes and heart to Celtic Christianity which lives beyond Rome, original sin and a denouncement of nature. I've been in numerous in-person workshops with him and love him to pieces.
John O'Donohue. All of his work is balm for the soul. Pure and simple.
My indigenous way of knowing and nature-based practices are honed through a mentored training in Druidry. I'm currently in the "third grade."
These practices are deepened by scholar and shamanic practitioner, Sharon Paice MacLeod and her book, Celtic Myth and Religion.
Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred by Victoria Loorz was music to my ears and inspired me to start Wild Church Denver.
Plants That Speak, Souls That Sing: Transform Your Life with the Spirit of Plants by Fay Johnstone. Her work supports many aspects of my path - nature-based, energetic, Celtic, and core shamanic practices.
Peter Levine and Staci Haines help me develop somatic awareness and practices.
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem and his work on Somatic Abolitionism has changed my life. I completed his course Foundations of Somatic Abolitionism for White Bodies. I don't teach his material but continue to practice it. Racism lives in our histories and bodies and can't be deconstructed in our minds or conversations. We have to identify it in our lineage and move it out of our bodies.
Tema Okun and all with whom she collaborates on White Supremacy Culture push me to dismantle the white supremacy that lives in me.
My supervisor is Rev. Daniel Prechtel, a spiritual director and author of Soul Journeys: Christian Spirituality and Shamanism as Pathways for Wholeness and Understanding
by Daniel L. Prechtel, John R. Mabry and Katrina Leathers.
I receive training and mentoring from Laurie Rainey Schmidt. She has over 30 years experience as a shamanic practitioner with advanced training through the Foundation for Shamanic Studies with Michael Harner. She has also done advanced studies with Tom Cowan, Betsy Bergstrom and is authorized to teach by Sandra Ingerman.
Kelly Arora is my friend and colleague. Her book Talks with Spirit provides a clear description of how to get started in a shamanic journeying and healing practice.
Wounded into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma by Rabbi Tirzah Firestone. I've attended Tirzah's ancestral healing workshop in person and am grateful for her healing presence in my life.
Ancestral Medicine: Rituals for Personal and Family Healing by Daniel Foor. This book was my companion on one ancestral pilgrimage. Since then, my processes have shifted, but I'm grateful for Daniel's good work on this important subject.
Annie Browning and Ann Marie Early are some of my ongoing teachers. Their book is Energetic Awakening: Living a Guided Life, and their practice is Common Awakening.
