A Well Being Journal Interview
Anna Raimondi, BA, MBA (clinical psychology, business) is a grief and spiritual counselor, evidential medium, advanced IET practitioner, and meditation facilitator. She has offices in Wilton, CT and in New York City where she teaches and works with clients. Her books include Talking to the Dead in Suburbia: An Ordinary Woman with an Extraordinary Gift (2009), One with the Drum: A Shamanic Journey to the Soul (2011), and Conversations with Mary: Messages of Love, Hope, Healing, and Unity for Everyone (Atria Books, 2017) all available at Barnes and Noble. She has been a guest on many radio stations, including “Messages from Heaven,” and television talk shows, as well as numerous appearances on the Dr Oz show, and her videos can be seen on YouTube.
Anna, according to your latest book, you had a vision of a beautiful woman in spirit when you were a child, and she gave you a message. What characteristics did the vision have and what was her message to you?
I was around 5 years old and in the backyard of my family home on Long Island, NY. I felt a calmness take over me and I saw Mary. The way she appeared to me was as a young woman with long, dark hair. She did not have the blue eyes and blond hair that is often depicted in art. She had darker rather than lighter skin. The message from her was more on the emotional level than a verbal one. What I recall most clearly is the feeling of love. It was an overwhelming feeling of love and peace. The message I received from her was that she would always be with me.
It is unusual for a girl of five to have such an experience.
Yes, but in a way, it wasn’t unusual for me. I loved being in nature, feeling the beauty of it. There were blossoming trees and flowers in my backyard on that spring day. I heard birds singing, and then the vision started. I was already seeing those on the other side around family members sometimes, and I talked to my mother and father of these experiences. I didn’t think I was any different from anyone else until I got a little older. My parents were supportive, though they were Italian Catholics and you’d think they’d be conservatively oriented. However, I did have an uncle who wanted to have me committed to an institution as he thought I was crazy!
So, others around you were skeptical, but you did not doubt your own perceptions.
I just saw myself as a normal girl and adolescent. It wasn’t until I reached high school that I realized I had to stop being so open. As a child, I would see someone’s “dead” grandmother standing behind them and readily describe her and the clothes she was wearing; as I got older, I had to use more discernment because I realized not everyone operated that way or was open to hearing that someone deceased was standing behind them.
Before assuming you know the absolute truth about everything, it’s good to remember that we can see less than one percent of the electromagnetic spectrum and hear less than one percent of the acoustic spectrum with our five senses. You and many others have been using perceptions more subtle than the five physical senses since youth.
That’s right. We are multidimensional beings who touch on such a small amount of what we were gifted with physical senses.
What led you to write a book based upon Mary’s communication with you?
I went to Medjugorie, Bosnia, about 2 years ago where Mary has been appearing for the last 35 years or so. I felt her there but wondered what I got out of it, since I feel and see her wherever I go. So, I was out on my deck one night, meditating and praying, and I said out loud, “I don’t know why I traveled overseas to see you, Mary.” And I heard, very loudly, “You will be my voice; you will be my platform. You will be my voice going forward.”
How was that experience for you?
I’ve learned to surrender, especially when the energy is so high in vibration; I live in surrender to God. And so, I said to Mary, “Ok, you want me to do something. I have no idea what it is, but bring it on.” Then, in a very “coincidental” (of course, there are no coincidences) way I met someone from Simon & Schuster, and without an agent or anyone else, I had a book deal very shortly thereafter. During the writing of Conversations with Mary the things that have happened have been extraordinary. Doors have opened that I could have never opened on my own. Mary wanted this book published, and she has a better way of orchestrating that than I do, so I just followed her lead.
Also, Mary wakes me up in the middle of the night, and especially did so during the writing of the book. I would have to get out of bed at 2, 3, or 4 in the morning and start typing the answers to a question that I didn’t yet ask. Then, later, I’d have to attach the question I had to the answer. I’m a horrible typist. Yet, while I typed her words, there were no typos, grammatical errors and, the language was correct; all the typos and grammatical mistakes were in the questions I added in later.
Many are taught as children in Western tradition faiths, to pray to Mary and other saints, and often they feel a connection rather than rationalize it or put it into words. They don’t question that people could die yet still be alive in spirit. Your experiences substantiate the faiths that assert there’s an unseen life that we can tap into that is rich. That when you die you do not cease to exist but are still conscious and alive, just in spirit.
Yes. If you look at it from the perception that we are all made of energy, and energy is vibration, and if energy can’t be destroyed, what happens to the soul? The soul is energy, and it doesn’t just dissipate or disappear. It continues to exist. Speaking of vibration, the highest vibration is love. And, within all souls, and of those who are in spirit, is an incredible amount of love for those of us in the physical world. That love continues, and that is why spirits visit us. They want to show that in some way they love us by bringing healing in energy and words, by giving information that will help us with our lives.
They are very, very strong. It’s quite wonderful to sit in my seat and listen to what the spiritual beings are saying and communicate that to someone else such as a loved one who understands the messages more than I do. I’m just the instrument, or the vehicle. This is not a talent. I always tell people that I’ve been gifted with courage- the courage to express myself! I don’t really know what’s going to come out of it at any moment, whether with friends or working with clients. I don’t know if it’s going to make sense to somebody, but I know what I feel.
For example, I might see an orange balloon floating around someone in spirit when I’m working with a client, and I just say what I see, even though it seems out of the blue, and then I may hear my client say, “You know, when my mother passed away I sent up orange balloons.” So, here in this case my client’s mother was there showing me orange balloons as a sign to her daughter that she was there. If I don’t say what I see, then something important may be left out. It may not make sense at first to me, but it makes sense to the receiver. So, this is just one example to show that the energy of the soul continues to go on, and on, and on.
When I do classes on meditation, those are the most crowded of all the classes. So very many people are now seeking to raise their vibration and feel the peace, compassion, and love that ensues. People want to attract the highest vibration, or whatever they may call God, the power of the universe, the name doesn’t really matter. What matters is bringing it in to your conscious awareness. Also, regarding Mary, she speaks to all people. Mary is not confined to the Catholic interpretation of Mary; she’s a messenger of the Source, Creator, the highest vibration, God, the Supreme, Allah, whatever name you apply, and she’s coming through to all people. She’s not just coming to one religion; she’s coming to all people of all religions.
As a species, humanity is messy right now, and we need to see through the boundaries and how we are all connected. Every one of us, no matter where we live or what we look like or what religion we practice, we are all one. And Mary is coming through to deliver that message. This is important for all of us, not only for peace within our families, communities, and nations; it’s important globally.
Indeed. So, regarding our connections—at some point you must have realized that no one goes anywhere when they die. I mean, the soul leaves the body, but the soul is still “here.” We just don’t see it. But you see souls who have left their physical bodies.
Yes, but they leave this physical dimension, and they go into a different dimension. So, they are not earth bound in this dimension. It’s very hard for us to conceptualize or put into words. The human condition is so often driven by an ego that keeps us safe in what we know. As you realize there are different dimensions, or realities, you aren’t in such a small box that is just occupied by your ego.
Could another way to describe dimensions be as subtle perceptual realms?
It could be. There are different names to describe what seems difficult to define; you could use the words heaven, dimensions, perceptual realms. You could use many different terms, but many souls are in a place that allows them to come into this place here, but they don’t reside in the physical the way we reside.
How do your perceptions occur for you when you perceive a soul in the spiritual realm? For example, when you were a child, you saw the vision of Mary, and you felt her presence. As an adult, you counsel people regularly and see their deceased loved ones and communicate messages from them. How do you perceive in this way?
Firstly, I don’t see Mary anymore outside of my mind’’ eye. I feel her. To me, feeling is more important than seeing, because seeing is an illusion. We don’t really look like we seem. Most people can’’ see people’s souls. I can look at you and I can see your energy. Some people can do that, and some can’t. Mary isn’t skin and bones; none of the spiritual beings are. They are light energy. So, when I feel and “see” Mary, it’s more of a subtle light and a feeling. I hear her telepathically, and I know what she’s saying to me. I know she is present. She overwhelms me to the degree that my own thoughts are displaced; they’re pushed out of the way, but by my choice to surrender. Her voice is a different voice than mine. There’s a feeling in her voice. I’d have to call it love. It’s sweet, but she’s persistent in what she is saying. She has a strong voice.
My tools in connecting with her are to close my eyes and say a prayer. However, she bombards me sometimes. I don’t even need to consciously connect. When I wrote my book, I did three-quarters of it in my office, which is where I see clients, and my family doesn’t go in there because it’s my place, which I keep very peaceful. I just sit down, and I ask a question, then she would answer, and I’d ask another question. It was really a conversation, just as we are having. The book was written in record time. I’d sit down and say, “Ok, what is it you want the world to hear?” And she’d use my fingers and type the words. I was fully conscious, but she was in charge. Even now when I read the book, I am surprised to see what was written, as I don’t remember it, because it wasn’t something I wrote. I’m not attached to her words, as if I would be in writing a novel. It’s her. She wrote the book!
What is an example of something she said that stands out for you in the book at this moment?
There’s so much. Here’s one statement, which I’ll read to you:
There has been suffering in human experience, and yet there’s the thought that God would not have created it. So, suffering seems more of a human experience, not necessarily what God wants.
I asked Mary about this. Suffering is absolutely our human experience; God did not create diseases. There is light and dark in the world, but how would you know the light if you hadn’t been in the dark? We also reincarnate. Mary talks about that. We do so for our souls to find more of the love in this life and create more love, and to try to be as perfect as our souls can possibly be here. That is, to be in that state with the all-encompassing divine love as a human.
There is a suppression of scripture or discussion about reincarnation in Western-based faith systems, but it’s there if you look, just not as prevalent as in the rest of the world, yet. There’s the question in the new testament of why some are born handicapped. The questioners asked, “Is it this person’s sin or the parents that they were born blind?” which implies that the person would have to have had some experience before they were born.
Yes, and they may have agreed to come back here, for any reason, to complete a soul mission, and to bring healing through, in some way, for themselves or others; it’s good and right, according to the plan.
There was a woman who was wheel-chair bound due to multiple sclerosis, and she died from the disease. Her daughter soon after found an evidential medium to help communicate with her mother, and one of the things her mother told her was that she learned compassion from her difficulties in physical form.
Yes. There are so many things that we can learn in our lives. Sometimes we can be strong and learn, and at times weak; nobody’s perfect. We are going to do this dance again, but hopefully there will be peace in this world. Mary says there can be peace in the world.
And it starts with each of us in our personal lives.
Yes. It starts with you and then there’s a domino effect. But it’s got to start. We’ve strayed so far from divinity, perception of divinity, of what is good. We are a world of people who struggles for power and supremacy, on many separate levels, that we forgot our higher purpose. The length of our lives is but a snap; you blink your eyes and we’re all going to be ninety. It’s so quick. Yet we all get caught up in these things that aren’t sustainable, that we don’t own. What we own is our souls or the love that we give out or even the hate that we sometimes emit. That all belongs to us. All the other stuff goes away upon death.
You become conscious of a wider state of being, of divinity. The Gospel of Thomas quotes Christ speaking of this state of consciousness everywhere: Lift a stone, and I am there, or cleave a piece of wood, and I am there.
Yes, and people who have had near death experiences or spiritually transformative experiences describe being in the presence with something much larger than their bodies. A loving light or a feeling of unconditional love. They come back to the physical realm, or they don’t die, because their souls aren’t done here. It’s similar for me when I feel Mary. There’s no identification with her material body for me. It’s her soul I feel.
Her consciousness. Many people wonder: Are we conscious in our soul, spirit? Does the soul enter the spirit? This may be splitting hairs.
The soul is within us. We say, “mind, body, spirit,” but that is really mind, body, soul. To me, the way I use these terms are interchangeable to a degree. When I speak about spirit, I’m referring to going into the energy of God, or the energy connected with God, and the soul is the direct connection to our hearts and minds. When we die, it is the soul that leaves the body. Many people have seen that occur. The soul is referred to in many scriptures. We aren’t just human beings; we are a soul in a human body. However, when the soul leaves a dying body, we are immediately greeted by somebody who was important in our lives to help make us feel comfortable. That’s why so many people see relatives when they are about to die. Hospice nurses can tell you this about dying patients and their visions of their mothers or fathers, husbands or wives before they die. This helps a person make the transit into the next realm.
Once this happens, the soul usually spends time still attached to the material world and to those who are grieving their death. It can take a while to let go of that, because not only is our soul transiting, but our mind and conception and perception is also in the process of changing. None of it, the personality, the mind, the soul just disappears. Next, we go into a place where we view our lives, the good, bad, and indifferent. The biggest mistake you can make in life is to intentionally hurt somebody. The soul is pure. The human part makes mistakes. Having to view those moments on a soul level, where, as a human, we hurt someone, that’s what hell is; it’s not fire and brimstone, but rather you feel the pain from having hurt someone. It’s against the nature of God.
Then we move on. When you’ve had a relatively good life you move on more quickly to be with other souls. We are taught by some of them, and we learn. We at some point decide whether or not to come back here, and we continue on.
We did not learn about reincarnation in my childhood faith, but afterward I learned of it in college by studying world religions.
Many faiths don’t talk about it, but Mary does! Also, it depends on the religion. The Buddhists and Hindus believe in reincarnation. If someone does wrong things in their life, perhaps they might choose to be born blind as a learning experience. Maybe they saw something they didn’t assist with, and as a soul decided a way to learn was to be born blind. It’s a soul path.
Do you perceive Mary as being in a different realm than many other souls who have died? This is the idea of there being many mansions in my Father’s house, or perhaps experiences or even dimensions.
Mary is in the same realm. They are all in one realm; there aren’t different realms. There’s no animosity or hate there. When people come to see me for communication with a mother or father, they’ll say things like, “My father probably hates me because I did such things when I was growing up.” Yet, those in “heaven” don’t know hate anymore, but they understand hate because they’ve been human. The angels don’t understand hate. They are direct messengers from God and have always been in the realm of love. They watch us. They protect us from going in the direction of hate, but they’ve never experienced it. Whereas someone who has walked the earth has experienced all the emotions. However, in the spirit realm you are in a place that is complete bliss and peace. It’s complete love. And all are together: The angels, the saints, the prophets. Everyone who goes through their life review is in that realm together
I think the statement, “Many mansions in my Father’s house,” is about the soul. Those many mansions are within us. When Jesus was speaking to people at the time, a lot of what he was saying was beyond what many people could understand. Some people take the teaching literally, but he was talking about deeper things than those on the surface.
Very true. He knew things unseen by most. Regarding health: Being healthy makes the physical life we live sweeter. What would you say are the best ways to be completely healthy?
The first thing is to honor yourself; honor your body, mind, and soul. These are all parts of yourself. The second thing is meditation. Meditation brings you to an awareness of your soul. It brings you to an opening within yourself where you can find peace. It’s the perfect high. It brings you to an awareness of all that is around you that is beneficial in an intuitive way. And that can mean eating better, eating the right food, giving love to people once you have it for yourself. When you give your love, and show compassion, you are healthy; you are more positive, and studies show that positive, happier people live longer. There’s a lot of doom and gloom in the human made world, and if you live that way you won’t be as healthy. The opposite of love is fear. Fear says, “You have no faith in Love, and are not connected to the great Love of God.”
That Love is this loving Being that pervades everything, and you have to focus on it and not fears of being separate from it.
Yes. This doesn’t mean you won’t fear. But I’m talking about predominantly being in fear. As a mother, I have worry and anxiety, and those are fears, but I learned over the years to surrender my children to God, because I can’t control them or what life brings to them, so, my choice can be to sit in fear, which says I have no faith in the guidance my children innately have, or to claim that God loves them even more than I do and will see to their protection. I know that they have free choice, but also know that they will be led by the greatest Love. It puts me in a continual state of gratitude. So, balancing your fears and being positive, as well as giving and receiving love, brings healthiness. Most of the people who are unhealthy are so because of emotional and spiritual imbalance. We live in a society where every other person is taking an anti-anxiety or anti-depressant drug; it’s a pill-popping nation. If people need medication, by all means, they should take it, but, along the way, we need to surrender to God for total health.
Researchers at HeartMath have shown that feeling appreciation for just a few minutes increases the power of the immune system and provides mental clarity. Really, life is such that it would be better if you appreciate that life as much as possible.
Absolutely. The research is very strong across the board about the power of intention. For example, there’s the large meditation experiment performed in Washington, DC years ago that aimed to decrease crime, and it did so significantly. Also, researchers have shown that prayer and intention in healing is very powerful. The power of intention is huge.
Has Mary commented on these issues?
AR: Yes. Definitely. Just to give you an idea she says, in Conversations with Mary, prayer and intention are energies and act to shape our lives and to bring us peace. Mary also addresses faith and the role of religion in our lives, what happens when we die, what heaven is and reincarnation. She speaks of angels and who they are as well as ascended masters and what enlightenment is. She raises the issue of what harmony is and how we can master our day to day lives. She really discusses just about anything you can think of that matters in life.
She is aware of our current conditions.
Oh, absolutely. She’s aware of all, completely. She talks about all of it!
SM: Aside from your work writing Mary’s messages, in your work as an evidential medium, does your client need to tell you the name of the person with whom they want to communicate?
AR: No. I don’t ask for names. People get what they need, which may not be the same as what they initially wanted. I can’t just dial somebody up. I hope the spirit that my client desires to communicate with comes through, but I can’t control that. Before I see anybody, I meditate and say a prayer for them; I allow myself to feel the energy of their loved ones. Sometimes it’s a family member and other times a friend. Sometimes they come through and talk about the person sitting across from me (or on the phone) and sometimes they talk about themselves.
I feel them, I hear them, I sometimes feel more personality than anything else. I’m clairsentient, clairaudient, and clairvoyant, and how I perceive them often depends on how those in spirit want to come through to me. Interestingly, occasionally when the person who came to communicate with their loved ones in spirit leaves following the session, their loved ones stay and hang out with me! It’s crazy. I have friends in the spirit world who I never knew in physical life who just want to help me.
When I first went public with my abilities, there was one spirit who decided he was going to guide me. And he did! And once he was done with that, he was gone.
The messages I might receive may not be what I expect, but rather what I need to hear or even what the one in spirit feels is important to say. Perhaps the one in spirit who is communicating has a wider view.
Yes. That’s what it’s about. I had a woman call the other day whose cousin had died, and she wanted to have communication, but her cousin barely came through. The whole reading was from her grandfather. It was important for him to say the things he said to her, and it was important that it come from him. Unless they were horrendous people in their human life and still working through issues in spirit, they are okay, and will come to communicate.
I believe that our physical life is a kind of “purgatory.” Life can be wonderful, but life is also hard. There’s pain in life and we question ourselves and why we do things. There’s a path in front of us and there’s choice and free will, and it’s complicated sometimes. So, spirits come through to try to help us.
That’s kind of how it works. And I tell people that they can certainly ask me questions and then I can tell them what I feel or perceive. Sometimes I have answers and sometimes not. What I don’t do is coach people beyond what I’m perceiving and giving them as messages from their loved ones. If someone says they are in love with this person, and I don’t get the feeling that the other person loves them, I’m going to say it. I’m not going to string people along. I don’t see people weekly. If someone wants something weekly, I refer them to a therapist.
There are people who chase healers. I’ve had many clients who want to make me into a guru. I’m not a guru. I talk to those on the other side, I bring messages through…and by the way, you are at a good place in your life. A really good place in your life. So, you just need to sit and say, “This is all good.” This is good. This is coming through your spirit guide.
Thank you.
Sure. So, when people want to make me a guru, I say, “no.” I will show someone how to meditate, how to get there, then they need to awaken on their own. You need to open your eyes and see what’s around you. Because, truly, we all can communicate. Granted, I’ve been doing this longer, I might have honed it better, but for me to be a guru is not how this works. I’m not looking for people to attach themselves to me. The responsibility lies with them.
Exactly. We can help each other, but you don’t help someone by giving them your strength, as they need to find their own, and we all have it within us.
AR: Yes.
Sometimes people get far too stressed too often and then don’t manage the stress and they get sick. If its chronic it can affect cardiovascular health.
People need to be careful; they need to find a way or an outlet for this stress. Whether it’s meditating or something else; remember, it’s mind, body, spirit. So, they can meditate, walk—they need to clear their minds. Sometimes they are intense people, and they take things on their own shoulders, the burden of the world on their shoulders. They don’t need to be that way. They really need to learn how to breathe. It could be a yoga class, but they need to do something along those lines.
People need to learn how to separate things. Everything is just a jumble for them sometimes. When they leave work, they need to be done with it and not take it with them. When they are with their mate, they need to be present with their mate. They really need to meditate and to walk—outside, not on a treadmill!
Nature is so healing. One more thing: Many wonder about their own abilities to perceive as you do. Perhaps some are intuitive and deny it, which might cause anxiety.
What I used to do, and I’ve been doing this my whole life, was I would read my friends. I’d be sitting at a restaurant and saying to a dinner partner, “You’ve got somebody standing next to you with a blue shirt and tennis shoes,” and it turned out to be someone they knew. I’d go to get my hair done, and feel someone, but before saying anything to the hairdresser, I’d ask the spirit, “If you want me to say what I feel, give me a sign,” and I’d get a sign and I would start saying what I was hearing or seeing. Once you start doing that it will come through stronger. Start exercising that muscle. You can approach it in this way with people: “You know, I just have this feeling,” and ask, “Is this true?” and then you don’t have to worry about being too assertive and potentially wrong. You don’t have to say, “I’m intuitive, I’m a medium, and I have a message for you.”
Thank you. These times we live in are fascinating.
Yes. Mary’s energy is so strong right now. It’s the divine feminine; we are in the age of Aquarius. Women wouldn’t be in politics if we weren’t in the age of Aquarius. So, you can go to Mary! Ask her to help you. Pray with Mary, not to her. Ask her to pray with you. It’s the concept as Jesus said, “When two or more are gathered therein I am.” There’s strength there. Mary counts as one of the gathered. The energy counts. Pray with her. Ask her to open your heart to your intuition. It’s not your mind, it’s your heart. Be grateful to God that you can go into this awakening. Claim it before you see it, and you’ll see yourself going there more strongly than before. Mary is here for us. Strong, strong energy. She’s appearing all over the globe; it’s not just in Medjugore. Many other people are saying they are seeing her. There’s a huge devotion to her. Jewelry is sold in Neiman Marcus with Mary’s image on it. She’s not just a trend though, so call her into your life.
The heart is to be the guide of the mind! Good advice. Thank you for this interview Anna!
I’m so happy we had this conversation today. You are doing a lot of good for the world. You dedicate your work, surrender it, and God will work through you. God has been working through you! ?
Readers can reach Anna Raimondi at info@annaraimond.com.