Sep 18 2026

Embrace the Great Awakening: My Spiritual Journey in Arkansas

by Dana Taylor

Are you part of the Great Awakening? Through my association with Spiritual Awakenings International, I meet people who have experienced Near-Death Experiences, After-Life Communication, Out-of-Body Exploration, Past-Life Regression, the list goes on and on. We are living in a time of expanded consciousness, where the past weaves into the present and angels come a’callin.

Personally, my spiritual awakening is an ever-evolving process. 2024 took me on a spiritual adventure in early November to a retreat in Arkansas. I’m finally able to share and articulate what happened to me during that retreat, led by Dayna Dunbar, a spiritual counselor and author I’d met during my years in Oklahoma.

When I saw Dayna’s autumn retreat announcement at a small, refurbished center in Arkansas, spirit nudged me “go.” I was the first to sign up and sent Dayna my deposit. As the deadline for signing up approached in September, Dayna called me on a Sunday and gave me the bad news that she was going to have to cancel, due to lack of response. She returned my money.

😩On Monday I felt strangely bereft. Incredibly sad all morning, like I could break down and weep. My rational mind was incredulous at my emotional state. It was only a retreat, for goodness’ sake. Something else would come along. But I couldn’t kick the deep sense of grief at not going to Arkansas.

📱Around noon, my phone rang. It was Dayna.

Dayna: “Send me back the deposit. It’s a strange miracle. The whole retreat filled up this morning and came together. I think it’s all for you.”

Me: 😍My spirit soared. “I think it is too. I’ll see you in November!”

Scenic view of a river surrounded by trees in autumn, with a clear blue sky above.

🍁Autumn colors were on full display as I drove through the winding Ozark hills to the Arkansas retreat in a town near Eureka Springs. The car rumbled over a bridge rising above a sparkling river. The quaint retreat center sat across the road from the shore. My first “mystical moment” was discovering the water was part of Beaver Lake. Some thirty years earlier, I’d driven through the area and later had experienced an unforgettable dream of Beaver Lake and an intelligent, huge full moon hanging over the water. The dream sparked the opening scene to my second novel Devil Moon: A Mystic Romance. As it turned out, our retreat coincided with the rising of the great Beaver Moon. Each night we sat in silver moonlight around a fire pit at the adjacent campground, creating ceremony and community.

As the week unfolded, we enjoyed morning yoga and meditation, followed by interesting outings organized by Dayna. The meditations included deep breathwork that triggered altered states of consciousness. It was during the meditations I experienced the visions and energy activations that unfold in my latest meditation, VISIONS UNDER THE BEAVER MOON.

A scenic view of a riverbank with bare trees in the foreground, illuminated by the glow of a full moon in the sky. In the background, a large house with multiple gables sits atop a hill surrounded by tree-covered land.

The visions revealed a past-life in a Native American society and an association with a female shaman in the White Buffalo Calf Woman tradition. For details of the visions, please listen to the meditation. Evidently, I had some sort of “spiritual appointment” at Beaver Lake. Something not in the meditation is verification of one detail. In the first vision, I was led across the water to a small cave. The roof of the cave was common stone, but there were also pockets of geode crystals embedded in the stone. They sparkled and glinted. On the last day of the retreat two young participants kayaked across the water and found a small cave with the crystals in the roof!🤷‍♀️

In the months that have passed, I’ve developed a deeper kinship with Native American traditions, such as flute music and ceremony. I was also led by spirit to read Return of the Bird Tribes, a popular 1980’s book channeled by Ken Carey. An entire section covers the legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman. A shaman and storyteller, Yellow Hand Spirit Woman, has recorded it on YouTube for all interested in the tale and prophecy, White Buffalo Calf Woman by Ken Carey.

My ability to connect with spirit feels quicker and more spontaneous than before. My body jolts with energy and my connection to nature feels stronger. I often pray about weather, fires, and the earth’s cycles.

I invite you to join me on my spiritual journey through that week recreated in VISIONS UNDER THE BEAVER MOON. I encourage you to follow your spiritual nudges to discover personal revelations as we all explore this Great Awakening.

A serene illustration featuring a woman with long dark hair, dressed in traditional attire, standing beside a large white buffalo against a mystical landscape. The background depicts a twilight sky with soft clouds and a glowing moon. Text overlays include 'Visions Under the Beaver Moon' and 'A Meditation with Dana Taylor'.

Bright Blessings, Dana

VISIONS UNDER THE BEAVER MOON can also be found on the Planet Meditations Page.

To learn more about Dana’s spiritual journey read Ever-Flowing Streams: Christ, Reiki, Reincarnation & Me

Aug 13 2026

Roadmap to the Great Awakening: Insights from Dr. Yvonne Kason

a book review by Dana Taylor

Since 2023 Spiritual Awakenings International has brought an array of fascinating people into my life, but Dr. Yvonne Kason definitely sits at the top of my personal Amazing Persons list. Fun facts about Yvonne:

She’s a retired medical doctor.
She coined the phrase Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) in 1994 and was a pioneer health care professional recognizing STEs as actual life-changing events and not mental health delusions.
She’s a five-time Near-Death Experiencer, including a helicopter crash into a freezing lake (!) and years later, a fall on black ice which caused a disabling traumatic brain injury (TBI).
After twelve years of struggle from her TBI, her brain was miraculously healed at a meditation retreat.
She’s an author of seven books, and a founder and the current president of Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI).

It’s my honor and privilege to serve as Dr. Kason’s executive administrative assistant at SAI. She blends an astonishing level of visionary mysticism and organized professionalism. Her latest release is an exciting addition to her publications helping readers understand their spiritual development.

Roadmap to the Great Awakening: Purifying the Heart

Dr. Yvonne Kason shares a beautiful roadmap, “Purifying the Heart,” to guide us through the fascinating stages of our spiritual awakening journey: from a Spiritual Seeker to Spiritual Server, Spiritual Warrior, to Devotee, and then to an Adept. Using her own STEs as examples, she shares the key focuses and spiritual learning tasks at each stage, and how to speed up your progress. Based on her own awakening journey and 40 years of STE research, Dr. Kason concludes that the ultimate goal for us all is self-realization—God-Communion—with continuous expanded mystical consciousness.

Roadmap to the Great Awakening brought clarity to my personal spiritual journey. I mentally traced the milestones on the spirit “map” and saw how far I have come and a realization of how far there still is to go. Yvonne weaves her personal experiences into the spiritual levels of growth for a fascinating narrative blended with valuable information. This is a wonderful addition to the spiritually-minded reader’s library.

Listen to the top-notch keynote presentation she delivered at our Spiritual Awakenings International Conference 2026 and then purchase your own copy of Roadmap to the Great Awakening to underline and write personal notes in the margins.

Visit Dr. Kason’s website at Dr. Yvonne Kason ~ Spiritually Transformative Experiences

Aug 8 2026

Summer Reads for Spiritual Seekers

by Dana Taylor

Visit Meditation Pages: Healing, Sleeping, Opening Chakras, Planetary Healing

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted personal information on my life journey. So, to catch you up, I’m living a very busy, sweet life in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Northern California. Six grandchildren, ages 12 – 1, live nearby, (5 boys, 1 girl!). Their menagerie includes a ball python, a terrific mouser cat named Leroy Brown, chickens, quail, and Oliver, my darling golden retriever grand puppy. Need I say, never a dull moment?

Local friendships have formed with bright women making the world a better place through things like yoga, sound healing, and herbalism. The vibe here is very back-to-nature.

My on-line volunteer work for Spiritual Awakenings International brings a global community into my living room through the magic of modern technology. My current position as Executive Assistant to the President keeps me engaged in producing events featuring fascinating people sharing their amazing Spiritual Transformative Experiences.

As always, I love reading spiritually aware authors. Here are two gems to share:

Becky Chambers: Heartfelt Science-Fiction

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, A Monk and Robot Book

“It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.“

The story begins when Monk sets out on a journey of self-discovery with his hospitality cart through the villages and wilderness of Panga. Much to his amazement, he meets the centuries old Robot who cannot return to his kind until he answers the question: What do people need? And so, this unlikely duo commences a journey of adventure and philosophy.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is both an engrossing story and a meditation. Chambers garnished a Hugo Award for her beautiful book that ponders the meaning of life. She is also the author of the popular Hugo Award winning space opera Wayfarer series.

Gwendolyn Womack: Metaphysics Meets Mystery & Romance

Though she’s been publishing at least a decade, Womack was new to me. Amazon featured her as a Prime First Reads with The Last Labyrinth,

“a thrilling and romantic science fiction adventure about a musician who travels back to the 1800s on the currents of sound and falls for an earl as the two must decode the secrets of time and music to save both of their futures.”

This has been my summer of Gwen Womack. I love how she uses a multidimensional modality as the supernatural thread through her stories. She also includes historical eras or actual figures as she weaves the tale. The Time Collector features psychometry; The Fortune Teller has powerful female seers. My personal favorite, The Memory Painter, employs reincarnation to propel the characters through past lives and solve the mystery of the present life.

For inspiration and entertainment this summer, check out the tales of Becky Chambers and Gwendolyn Womack.

Bright Blessings, Dana

Jaguar Jack Campbell, Aussie reality TV star, travels the globe filming risky escapades in the wild. His charismatic charm conceals an unwanted psychic gift. He’d rather make love than war, especially spiritual war. Major Maggie Savannah, aka Maggie-the-Mouth, is brash, brave and beautiful. She lives to beat the bad guys via covert military operations. The last thing she wants is a reckless civilian TV personality as a partner.

But when an American missionary is kidnapped by terrorists on a mysterious island, Jack and Maggie join forces to secure her rescue. Together, they must discover their true identities and defeat an enemy of Biblical proportions.

The Adventures of Jaguar Jack is available at Amazon.

May 29 2026

SAI Conference 2026: Keynote by NDE Expert Dannion Brinkley

Internationally acclaimed author and near-death experience (NDE) researcher Dannion Brinkley will serve as the opening keynote speaker for the Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI) Online Conference 2026, taking place June 6–7. Registration is FREE at SpiritualConference.org. Brinkley’s keynote address will launch the global gathering on Saturday, June 6, bringing his signature blend of humor, insight, and transformative storytelling to audiences worldwide.

Brinkley is the New York Times bestselling author of Saved by the Light, At Peace in the Light, and The Secrets of the Light—a trilogy chronicling his extraordinary near-death experiences and their profound impact on his life. A survivor of three NDEs and a documented death experience, Brinkley has spent nearly five decades as a hospice volunteer studying the nature of death and dying.

Keynote speakers include:

Dannion Brinkley ~ Cultural Legacy of the Near-Death Experience after 50 Years
Dr. Yvonne Kason launches her latest book, Roadmap to the Great Awakening
PMH Atwater ~ Childhood Near-Death Experiences Transform Lives
Rev. Dr. Norma Edwards ~ Twenty-First Century: Change & Transformation
Shaun Lether ~ Lessons from Multiple Near-Death Experiences

SAI Conference 2026 features 42 speakers from 12 countries on subjects such as Near-Death Experiences, Spiritually Transformative Experiences, Spirituality & Healing, and Exploring Conscious.

I’m looking forward to opening SAI Conference 2026 ON Saturday June 6 at 11:30 AM Eastern/ 7:30 AM Pacific with my meditation ASLEEP, AWAKE, AWARE, & ALIVE! Join us for a weekend that promises to be interesting and inspirational. Registration is FREE for the two-day Zoom event ~ SPIRITUALCONFERENCE.ORG

Apr 25 2026

Embracing Life: Finding Joy Amid Chaos

by Dana Taylor

It’s been a while since I’ve written a personal post here. Personally, I’m enjoying life. Living near six grandchildren, ages 12 to 1, in the redwood forest of the Santa Cruz Mts. of California, my days are filled with kids, carpooling, and natural beauty. Oh, and lots of laundry.

I do not, however, live in ignorant bliss of the headlines reporting war, injustice, and chaos going on in the world. It’s difficult to keep a cheery, hopeful outlook for the future my precious grands will inherit.

So, as always, I turn to my foundation of faith and spiritual connections. I respect the beliefs of others, even as I turn to Christ-centered prayers and meditations with my spiritual guides. Inspiration for a new meditation arose as I felt the need to rise above the noise and confusion of the world. Images of a higher room floating in the atmosphere emerged even before Artemis II made its historic trip around the moon. At the center of what I call the Celestial Lounge is a sentient being who at first glance might look like a bright blue and white robotic machine. Or perhaps an odd angel. I’m not sure. However, when I visit the Celestial Lounge, I sense an ageless wisdom and fathomless kindness from the one I call The Host.

I invite you relax and rise up to the Celestial Lounge the next time you need a break from current harsh realities on Planet Earth. When you return, do your part to make our world a kinder, cleaner, saner place to call home.

Bright blessings–

Dana