Is descended spiritual?

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A question I commonly get asked, is how much of descended is fantasy, and how much is spiritual? 

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I like my readers to make up their own minds about this, hence I encourage them to read as little or as much into it as they’d like.

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All I can say, is that you’ll get what you need to get from descended. 

I’ve had so many readers reach out to me to let me know how much descended means to them. The common theme of late seems to be how much its approach to death resonates with them. I’ve been told it’s a really beautiful, incredibly comforting way of looking at what happens to us after our time here on this earth, in this body, comes to an end, and that it’s opened up a whole new world of possibility to them.

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I love that my book has opened up a dialogue around mortality. Let’s be honest, the COVID years changed the face of the world in many ways, one of the major ones being a rise in people questioning the very meaning of their existence and why things happen the way they do. It feels like people want more out of life now, they want a more meaningful existence, they want deeper conversations and connections.

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I’ve mentioned that descended is my way of exploring so many of the little 'what ifs' that plagued my youth. It is a love story, it is infused with fantasy, but it also toys with some of the bigger themes I've always wondered about, such as fate versus free will, life after death, soul mate love, the possible preternatural aspect of mental health, and life purpose. 

 

The world of descended is a world of hope and true love and sense, of healing the deepest of hurts. It is a world where everything happens for a reason, where every soul matters, where we return to those we love over and over again, because they are our soul family.

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Because that is a world that comforts me, that keeps me sane. Life is messy and complicated and hard and oh-so-heartbreaking at times, but I have found there is always rhyme and reason to it if we search hard enough. Often the worst things to happen to us happen because they're meant to change us infinitely.

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I spent my younger years wondering and worrying about the world and my true place in it — it all seemed so big and mysterious, and endless. I was always overwhelmed by a nagging feeling there was so much more to the universe than what I was taught at school and at home. But back before I knew who I was, my intense need to not be weird or different, limited my exploration. 

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Getting really, really sick in my early twenties was THE turning point in my life. It forced me to explore alternative healing modalities. It forced me to really look at myself. And it forced me to look at the world and question its true nature.

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I’d go so far as to say that my desperation to live a full life, to heal myself, launched me on a journey of discovery, a most wondrous, magical, eye opening journey which would not only save my life, but would change it forever. I am well now. It turns out my incurable death sentence was in fact curable. I just had to look in all the right places and find the right people to help me.  

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It's no secret I’ve spent years venturing way down the rabbit hole of alternative medicine and healthy living. It became such a great area of interest for me that I ended up studying kinesiology, nutrition, and psychotherapy, and opening my own practice treating clients up until I had my first baby. 

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Time went on, as it tends to, and then one day I found myself in my early forties, with four kids, and with years of studying and researching and reading and searching and learning and doing under my belt, and an intense desire to share my wealth of knowledge and experience.

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I’ve spent decades pondering the meaning of life and I guess descended is my interpretation of the world, an interpretation that helps me sleep at night, that helps me make sense of the universe, to see the point in the seemingly pointless. I’m not offering the keys to the universe, I’m merely expressing what helps me.

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As I began to write, it turned out the main character was a young man who was as put together on the outside as he was broken on the inside. A young man who shows incredible strength through showing his vulnerability, his pain, his weaknesses. A young man who embarks on an extraordinary journey of discovery, who with the help of the remarkable people who come into his life is able to find his place in the world, demystify the universe, and figure out why he’s here.  

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One thing I know for sure, is that there is more to us and to this world than the physical. I like to believe magic does exist. Maybe not on the Harry Potter level we’d like it to, but in the serendipitous way the universe works, in that we’re exactly where we’re meant to be, doing exactly what we’re meant to be doing at any given moment. 

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No matter how broken we may seem, there is a way to put ourselves back together. There will always be people out there who care, who love us for the glorious mess we are. We just need to find our tribe. And I’m hoping descended will help me continue to find mine.

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So, am I a spiritual person? I think the answer to that is pretty clear.

I maintain my health with regular visits to my acupuncturist, my energy healer, and my chiropractor. All my kids’ aches and pains and scrapes and ailments are treated naturally where possible — my medicine cabinet is full of weird and wonderful lotions and potions and drops, and my weekly bill from my favourite health food store is the bane of my husband’s existence (it’s an investment into our health I promise him). 

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I run a chemical free house, I make my own washing powder in my Thermomix, and my kids know the worst thing they can do is bring junk food into my house as I don’t allow anything with funky numbers/additives/MSG/Frankenfood into my pantry. Apparently this makes me a really bad Mum. Look out for my next book ‘101 Ways with Coconut Oil and Cauliflower: You Too Can Destroy Your Kid’s Street Cred with A Wholefood Lunchbox.’

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I also have an enormous crystal collection which I will never apologise for because they’re so damned pretty and mystical. I buy crystals wherever I go, from all over the world (we have been stopped at airport security all over the world and questioned as to why we have gigantic rocks in our bags. My husband is such a good sport, grinning and bearing it while TSA agents laugh at him and make whipping noises for lugging boulders in his hand luggage for his wife).

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As much as my friends and family make fun of my weird hippie ways, I’m often their first port of call when they need advice on diet or supplements or healthy recipes, so I’m happy to embrace the role of resident master of the super-woo.

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I believe in the power of manifestation, in karma, and in being authentic. With me, what you see is most definitely what you get. I believe our thoughts create our reality so I strive hard to keep mine positive. And I choose to surround myself with people who build me up, bring out the best in me, and make me a better person. My dear friend Donna McCormick once told me ‘Surround yourself with people who see your brilliance, will show you your light, remind you of your magnificence and celebrate you on your journey.’ This is my philosophy on all relationships.

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So make of descended what you will. If you choose to see it as fantasy, so be it. If you choose to see it as spiritual, good for you. Either way, my wish is that this is a story that will stay with you, that it will make you really think deeply and feel hard, and that it will bring you comfort if that is what you need.