In a nutshell:

 

I'm D. Spring, and I've practised folk-magic since 1997, using knowledge gleaned from intensive independent study and practice, and instructional interaction with practitioners of various cultural expressions of natural and folk magic. I grew up in Central Florida, with maternal roots running nearly 200 years deep in New Orleans, mixed with Mexican heritage through my father.

 

I hold a Religious Studies B.A. from the University of Toronto, have been initiated in Western ceremonial magick through Temple of  Isis Urania, received initiation in the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math lineage of Vaisnava Hinduism, and have taken lay Buddhist vows. I am a certified Meditation Teacher through Vedansha Institute of Vedic Science & Alternative Medicine in Rishikesh, and a Usui Reiki Master-Teacher since 2000. I maintained an energetic healing practice in Toronto from 2000-2019, called Prana Devi Healing Arts.

 

My primary personal spiritual practices are devotional home shrine maintenance & embarking on culturally-rich pilgrimages to sacred sites across the globe.

The long way round:

 

The women on my maternal side have long been known to have various spiritual gifts. My mother is very clairvoyant and a gifted reader. Clairsentience, c-cognizance and c-audience are the gifts that I have most strongly, but I do have flashes of c-voyance from time to time, most often when in meditation or ritual. Spirit communication generally comes easily -however, I don't consider myself to be a medium as the spirits are generally not those who've passed. 

I feel my practice has evolved the way it has due to my cultural and ethnic heritage. My maternal family line has been present in New Orleans since the mid-1800s, and we have a family crypt in Lafayette #1 that is still in use. I was brought up on my Granny's cajun cooking and her endless tales of life in NOLA, including more than a few bits of folk-belief. Frequently visiting New Orleans as an adult has helped me reconnect to this magical city that is so much a part of my history. 

My father is Mexican-American. I always had a deep reverence and fascination for folk Catholicism, indigenous spiritual expressions, and traditional medicine of Mexico. On a 2008 trip to Oaxaca, I was privileged enough to have a limpia from a curandero, or traditional healer, who helped me understand my spiritual make-up more deeply. Along with becoming a devotee of Santisima Muerte, I've also developed a very beneficial rapport with the blessed Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez, and also St. Dymphna, the matron saint of mental and nervous disorders, SA survivors, and runaways.

I was also initiated and trained in a Golden Dawn ceremonial magic lodge, Temple of Isis Urania, and received training in Qabalist ritual magic methods of invocation, evocation, herbs, incense, talismans, etc in a working temple. This is where I re-established a strong rapport with the angelic realm, that had been something my mother had taught me as a child but had faded in my teens. 

I earned my Religious Studies B.A. from the University of Toronto, with a focus on the Eastern traditions. The academic work led me into a life-changing journey into Hindu devotional practices. I was eventually initiated into the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math lineage of bhakti yoga. Along with Sri Radha-Krsna, I also maintain altars for Sri Ganesha, Durga Ma, Lord Shiva, Kali Ma, and others. I trained as a Meditation Teacher, at the Vedansha Institute of Vedic Science & Alternative Medicine in Rishikesh. Combining a pilgrimage to Varanasi with attendance at a residential training program in Rishikesh helped fulfil dreams of spending an extended time in India. I have also taken several of the Buddhist lay vows, and practice Buddhist-based meditation regularly. 

 

I'm passionate about pilgrimage, and travel as often as I am able to Hindu ashrams, temples and sacred sites, as well as visiting significant folk shrines in Mexico, and pre-colonial Mexican sacred locations. Being blessed enough to pay respect to Dona Queta at the Tepito shrine of Santisima Muerte was a particularly powerful highlight.

Since 2000 I've been a Usui Reiki Master-Teacher, and over the years have learned many complementary energetic healing modalities. This understanding of energy manipulation and direction ties directly into my folk magic work, and also enables me to provide particularly effective healing and blessing services - including distance healing if requested. 

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