Finding Your Way: Connect with Spirit + Your Soul’s Path - Episode 54

Erika Gabriel is a professional Spiritual Medium, Teacher and Wayfinder whose calling is to help people find purpose, direction, and clarity in life. She is also the host of her own podcast, “You Are Not Alone,” which explores our collective search for answers about life, death, and everything in between.

Over the course of her 15 year career, Erika has performed thousands of live readings for individuals from all over the world and all walks of life. Robyn experienced a reading with Erika and found it to be divinely timed to give specific messages, and to validate where she is and is going on her life's path.

Erika is a firm believer in the power that exists within each of us. So much so, that she has developed a set of online resources and teaching materials designed to empower you on your spiritual path. No matter your cultural background or beliefs, we all share a universal connection to spirit.

Erika's mission is to help as many people as she can discover this life-changing power for themselves. Her latest on-demand course, “The Way,” gives you grounded, concrete steps to help you grow, activate your path, and empower yourself to walk towards your dreams.

And did we mention Erika is just flat out cool and “normal?”

On this week's podcast, we dove into all things connected to spirit as well as how we can be connected to Spirit Guides on our own.

For more about working with Erika or taking the course, The Way, visit ErikaGabriel.com.

You can also follow her on Instagram at Spiritualmediumerika and on Facebook at
SpiritualMediumErikaGabriel. 

Visit theseekingcenter.com for more from Robyn + Karen, plus mega inspo -- and the best wellness + spiritual practitioners, products and experiences on the planet!

You can also follow Seeking Center on Instagram @theseekingcenter

Transcript

Robyn: [00:00:00] I'm Robyn Miller Brecker, 

Karen: and I'm Karen Loenser. Welcome to seeking center. The podcast,

Robyn: join us each week as we have the conversations and weed through the spiritual and holistic clutter for you, we'll boil it down to what you need to know. Now 

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We'll talk to the trailblazers who will introduce you to the practices, products, and experiences. That may be just what you need to hear about to transform your life. 

If you're listening to this, it's no accident. Think of this as your seeking center and your place to seek your center. And for even more mega inspo sign up for seeking center.

The newsletter at seeking center .

Robyn: Erika Gabriel is a professional, spiritual medium teacher and Wayfinder whose calling is to help people find purpose, direction, and clarity in life. She is also the host of her own podcast. You Are Not Alone, which explores our collective search for answers about [00:01:00] life, death, and everything in between.

Over the course of her 15 year career, Erika has performed thousands of live readings for individuals from all over the world and all walks of life. I experienced a reading with Erika firsthand, and it was divinely time to give me specific messages to validate where I am and where I'm going on my life's path.

Like Karen and I, Erika is a firm believer in the power that exists within each of us. So much so that she has developed a set of online resources and teaching materials designed to empower you on your spiritual path, no matter your cultural backgrounds or beliefs, we all share a universal connection to spirit.

Erika's mission is to help as many people as she can discover this life-changing power for themselves. her latest on-demand course. The way gives you grounded concrete steps to help you grow, activate your path, and empower yourself to walk towards your dreams. And did we mention Erika is just flat out cool and in quotes, normal.

, we're going to be [00:02:00] diving into all things connected to spirit and how you can be connecting on your own. Hi Erika. 

Erika: Hello, Robin and Karen. I'm so happy to be with you today. , 

Karen: we're so happy that you're here. Flat out. Cool. I just love this 

Erika: description.

I'm I love it too. 

Karen: Let's just jump right in and let's talk about what you do and how you refer to yourself. So we use the words a lot, like spiritual, medium and teacher, and you refer to yourself as a wayfinder, which I just love that word. So what do those terms mean 

Erika: to you?

It's such a great question because, we hear all these different titles and, ideas, a medium, a psychic, and all these things. So for me, I'm a deeply spiritual person and I mediate information from the spirit world to our world, And so I'm available and open to sacred messages that come from the other.

Which can come from our spirit guides, our angels, our loved ones who've crossed over. And I don't just say I'm one thing. I'm really available to mediate that information in a safe way, in a grounded way, and in a [00:03:00] way that is really safe for people to work with me as well with clear boundaries, So it sounds like I'm just open to everything which I am, but in a very clear. So that's the medium component. And along with that has evolved this spiritual teaching with really, I have this incredible privilege of sitting in and listening to thousands of readings with people all over the world.

and really sit in and listen to spirit work with them. So after hearing all these messages, I'm able to teach some of the powerful universal things that I've heard for the last 15 years. and through these readings, I have become a wayfinder and someone that serves people in finding their way, finding their path, and finding their.

Robyn: so well described. I agree. I love the definitions for all of those words and I'm so glad we asked that because I do really think that, especially when it comes to spiritual medium, that can mean different things to different people, so it's so helpful because I think some people think of it as just with deceased loved ones.

Karen: And Erika. [00:04:00] Is Wayfinder a word that you've come up with, or is that a word that you've heard before or gotten from somewhere? 

Erika: So it's my word because I downloaded some really specific tools and my guides told me these tools put together are called the way. And from that everything started to gel together.

And I realized saying I'm a spiritual medium is powerful and amazing, but there's all these other components to tapping in and tuning into spirit. That's why I don't call myself a psychic medium, Because that's one specific area. And psychic predictions do come through at times in.

if the psychic prediction will really serve that person. So we're not always meant to know what's coming down the pike, but there have been many situations where there's specific things that will really serve that person and their path in this life. 

Robyn: that is very true. And we can touch a little bit more on that too.

Why we hear certain messages at certain times, and even though we're craving this other information, We're not [00:05:00] given I think we'll come back to that. 

 We would love to know how did you discover the spirit world and your abilities?

What was your journey into all 

Erika: of. . It's interesting, as early as I can remember I remember looking in the mirror at really young age and having the conscious thought of huh, okay, so here you are. Now you're this face. Interesting. What's this chick all about? There was an absolute awareness very early on that this was a whole new meat suit and that I didn't look like her.

So there was a lot of that and also a sensitivity to other people's energy, thoughts, feelings. And then around the age of seven, I moved into a new house with my mom and stepdad and my sisters. And I started sensing, seeing and feeling a little boy around the house and told my parents about it.

And they started asking around a little bit and they. out from a neighbor that a little boy had drowned on the. . And I basically after that, slept on my parents' floor till I was like 12, yes. And[00:06:00] yes. And just was like, I'm haunted. There's hauntings everywhere. And was really scared for a really long time.

 And that led me on a journey of searching. What am I seeing? What am I feeling? How do I see so much that other people don't see? And I. Deeply, deeply spiritual, and I even look at journals from when I'm like 13, just pouring my heart out to God and energy. I was raised my dad is Jewish, my mom is Christian, so I was raised Jewish light, Christian light.

I love all religion. So there wasn't a huge religious influence, but. was deeply spiritual and then went on a wild goose chase through my twenties. I've been to every church in every temple every kind of spiritual seeking center you can imagine. And really didn't know what was going on, was receiving a lot of messages from spirit and for other people, but they would bust in at unlikely times, so there was no control.

And then finally I went to a medium and she was like, you're a medium, right? And I was, oh, yes. No, but yes, but no, but yes, thank you. You just scratched an itch in [00:07:00] my soul, and then within two weeks I had people I lived in Los Angeles at the time, and I had a bungalow off Melrose.

And people started knocking on my bungalow door within two weeks. And that was, more than 15 years. 

Robyn: So how did you train for that? Once you heard oh, that's validation in my soul. What did 

Erika: you do? Yeah, so this was, the most intense kind of part of my life.

Really tapping into who I was talking to. Was I talking to a ghost? Did I bump into a haunt? , am I with a spirit guide? Am I with a loved one who crossed over am I with an angel? And I just completely allowed myself to be taken over by working with spirit and practicing with spirit, and really found that spirit guides are the way best for me to go into spirit.

They are literally my guide. So I don't do any readings without my spirit. And through them they guide me. They talk to other people's spirit guides, and they prompt me and help me. So for me, Really connecting with my guides was [00:08:00] foundational and from there I was able to understand the other realms.

But I did go through a dark night, a very intense dark night of the soul, and that was probably, the most terrifying. Experiences of my life. What happened? So I was doing a distance, house clearing. So someone called me and I was doing a house clearing, going through their home and.

found someone in there, a really upset guy who couldn't cross over, which is rare by the way most people cross over. there's not like people walking all over the place, There's all levels of ghosts. 

But cleared him out or helped him, make his way and felt like I couldn't have my skin on anymore.

Like just itchy and really uncomfortable. It's almost today when people ask me about really scary, dark stuff, and I'm like, that is not where my focus lies. I can feel that dark energy and then I know how to manage my energy and manage my boundaries, but I felt this very strange energy.

And then for three, , I was in complete darkness. And I know that [00:09:00] sounds so weird and so farfetched. I get it. But the best way I can describe it is, I went outside to get fresh air and try and get some sun and just clear the air. And it looked like it was midnight and it was broad daylight in Los Angeles.

Literally in darkness. Wow. And it was terrifying. Yeah. And. Towards the end of those three days, I basically what I could see was the bottom of a dark well, and my husband just asked, what are you seeing and where are you? And I told him, this is wild. But he said, I'm gonna come into the well too.

And I literally could see his eyes in the. and he said, just come with me out. And I rode out of the well on the power and love and light of his spirit. He took me out. And that's a hard story to tell because, I'm so impassioned by people that empower themselves because we know you can do.

So it's hard to reveal that at that point. He helped lift me out, but the power of love and connection is [00:10:00] also one of the most powerful forces we have in the world. So I'm proud to also tell that story, but I was really dropped in a dark Well and at that point I thought, maybe I'm not a medium, maybe I've lost my mind, Sometimes when people are losing their mind, do other people say You're losing your mind, or they do they go, it's okay, you'll be fine. So it was like a lot backing up on me in that situation. But I was able to get out and what's really been powerful about that experience is I can read for literally, No matter what they're going through, cuz I have gone there, so nothing scares me anymore.

I'm not afraid to talk to someone that's going through trauma or thinks they're haunted there's no fear there. And I feel so confident and I feel that I'm a safe person for people to have readings with. , have you had to do 

Karen: anything since then to protect yourself as you're going into a reading?

And do you sense it when you're starting to do a reading that kind of energy might be part of that conversation? 

Erika: Absolutely. I definitely, I have opening and closing and [00:11:00] very specific rituals that I do before and after and even sometimes, yes, to answer your question in a reading, if I'm feeling that energy, I have really clear ways to stay grounded and really stay in mediation of the energy.

It's not about Erika and I'm safe in doing that. But yes and it used to take me, 30 minutes to prepare for a reading. And now all these years in, I know the steps I'm going through, I can hit them and move through them more swift. Now, but I do, I clear my energy all the time in every opportunity.

I even clear my energy in the shower every day. I take those opportunities. I like reiki, in essence, the shower head, and really focus on the water and use the shower to clear myself. I use all kinds of tools. to work with my energy and make sure my energy is clean and good and strong.

And again, I say a safe person to read for you because listen, we are all seeing that there's so many people coming out doing spiritual work, which is amazing, And also sometimes people are like, oh my gosh, I have all this. I wanna share it, and I'm just gonna start reading for [00:12:00] people, which is from such a good place.

It's nothing negative. , but really they're not prepared to manage their own energy or someone else's energy. So I really focus on that, that I'm a grounded energy to have a reading with and safe. 

Robyn: Thank you for sharing that story. I know personally, I've had two experiences that shook me to that kind of core and my circumstances were definitely different.

I wasn't seeing the darkness, but I was feeling the darkness and I felt may never be myself again. And it was really frightening. And to your point of those experiences, then push us. to find the resources and also to lean on people when needed to bring you out.

So for me, it was Karen, it was other people in my life, and you're right, love definitely ends up being what lifts you up and these other tools of protection. And I think so many 

Karen: people that we've talked to who have come into their gifts at a stage in their life come out of the dark of their soul and then [00:13:00] are really in it.

And it almost makes you wonder if. energetically, you're seen as a beacon of light that's out there and it almost attracts that darkness in to prevent you from really giving the gift that you have, Or really making you. Second guess is this what you really wanna do? Is this the give you really want to give to people?

So thank goodness for your husband to have that. Like how he knew how to do that and to come to you that way. 

Erika: It kind of is working against me in our marriage a little bit though, cuz if I'm annoyed at him, I hear this voice, he helped you out of the darkness of the will of hell, and I'm like, damnit, you're right.

I gotta be nice to him. No, I think for me the darkness was it wasn't an outside force pushing me. It was my inside force and it was if I am afraid, , I cannot do this work. And I feel my guides were let's show. , , there is a massive force of really negative energy happening on this planet, but there's also a massive force of light happening on this planet.

And to be able to truly mediate and work with people on these levels, you have to [00:14:00] know what both are and what they feel like. And I know that was part of my initiation into the medium and wayfinder and teacher that I am. What would you say 

Robyn: to over the last 15 years? I know you said, after you had that experience of knowing okay, I have this ability and I can help myself and others with it.

From that time to now, do you feel like that there are more people that are open to. 

Erika: Absolutely. We are going through a massive energetic shift on the planet where, people are waking up and they're just saying, this old paradigm is no longer working for us.

And that's why you're seeing, this conflict between light and dark is just so intense right now. People are scared, they feel uncomfortable. So much is changing and people are also feeling I don't want to live to. There has to be more for me. Why am I here? What's my purpose? So people are looking to spirituality, they're looking to God.

I think people also are taking more time to just look at signs, and see [00:15:00] what's around them, and really connecting with their own inner voice. And when you connect in, your inner voice is a direct line to the divine and to. So there are so many people waking up. I think due to the fact that there's a lot of negative energy, again, more positive than negative, big time.

But because of the negative energy, there's a lot of people being activated right now that have beautiful healing gifts, wonderful energy. More teachers, more doctors, more nurses, more mediums, all the things, right? So I think there is just this big shift happening right now. I think people are way more open.

and also there is still so much further to go. And a lot of times people just wanna talk to me about the devil and ghosts and possession and all those things, which seems so weird to us, Because we're really looking towards the light and elevating our consciousness. , but a lot of people are still there and that's okay too, So I always think about people you know, that are maybe still stuck on ghosts, but they know, stuff about stocks. They would laugh at me about stocks cuz I don't [00:16:00] really even know how the stock market works. So there's no comparison. Everyone is growing and evolving at the same speed.

But yes, there's absolutely more people that are being more conscious and striving really to elevate and elevate their minds in very different ways. And it's. When I first started out, there was no Long Island Medium or Hollywood Medium or anything like that, and now people are really seeing, wow, there's a lot more going on that we maybe haven't connected with in the past.

Karen: And I think for people who are thinking about just that, you're saying a lot of people are waking up to it and. wanna make this their purpose. How did it happen for you that you made the decision back then when there was no real role model, as you said, for this as a career? What was the moment that you decided that this is what you wanted to do 

Erika: with your life's purpose?

The minute the medium said you're a medium, the. And it was before that, I knew I was on a spiritual path. I had thought, am I supposed to be a minister? Am I supposed to be a rabbi? Am I, really honestly, because my calling was to work for God. , my calling was to work for God and it still is.

And [00:17:00] when she said, oh, you're a medium, I'm like, oh, okay. It was immediate. , it was like a flame that just blew up, on fire, so it was immediate for me. I just wanted to say one thing I forgot to say as well, which I think is really interesting.

Even about your question, Robin, about people being more aware and, when people start to wake up a little bit, the first layer of spirit is haun. that's the first layer is like ghosts and hauntings. I just wanted to say when people are obsessed with ghosts and hauntings and all that, it's because they are waking up.

But they're just stuck on that first layer. And if you can move through that layer, that's when you get to the, the angels of the side. Great point. I just had to bring that up guys. Cause I, 

Robyn: That totally makes so much sense to me.

And Karen's nodding as well, and just knowing that, we always talk about the fact that the travel channel, which used to be about travel, really has turned into the Ghost channel, and it's so hugely popular, Because to your point, especially with our conversation, because [00:18:00] people are open and aware. They just have to get past that point and be open to what else does that mean? What else? What is energy? What is that energy? And then where does that go? And what am I, what are we made of? 

Erika: Cuz when you open without a clear intention, what is coming?

you have to be very clear. Yes. You have to be clear with your intentions. Who are you talking to? Who would you like to connect with? First of all, also for anyone listening, please don't summon people. don't summon anything. That's not a good idea. But you can say, I'd like to work with my highest and best, available spirit guides and connect with only white light energy.

You can go in that way. That's the best way to do it. I think sometimes we don't. what our intention is. And so we just open, and then every ghost in town comes in, Yes. And 

Robyn: speaking of who to talk to, how do 

Erika: you break down the spirit world?

Yeah, so there are, spirit guides, there are realms of angels. There are spirit animals. There are our loved ones who've crossed over, So people always [00:19:00] ask me like, when my, crossed over, did he, she sprout wings and become an angel, which is such a beautiful thing to think about.

But the answer is actually no. Angels are their own special. Part of the spirit world. If you think of time as a circle with no beginning, middle, and end, it's just a circle that angels were and always has been and always will be, They are just have always been angels, so they're their own special area Spirit guides, are highly evolved light beings that have lived countless lives and has taken on a very special role in the spirit world to.

And then your loved ones are your incredible loved ones in spirit and having their own involvement and experience in the spirit world. So there's many more, but those are primarily who I connect with when I am doing a reading Spirit. Animals are huge as well, and people always wanna ask if pets know that we love them.

And if there's a pet, heaven basically. And I see pets all the time. I actually watched my. Step up out of his little old body and kind of start running off, and I saw him run off into a field. So Pets are there as well. So there's lots of different [00:20:00] realms and then there's, different layers and levels of stuck energy, earthly energy, and ghosts as well.

When you're doing a 

Karen: reading for someone then, and I know you've done so, so many, so it comes naturally to you, but can you just describe visually or energetically. how you tell the difference between an angel, a spirit guide, or a deceased loved one when you know you're reading someone you've never met before.

How 

Robyn: does that come through? 

Erika: Yeah, that's such a great question. Thank you so much, . When I first started I had physical reactions to each very different. So my spirit guides. I would have shooting chills up and down my spine and up and down the outside of my arms. And I knew that my guides were with me when it was a loved one who crossed over and I still see them.

They go over the person's right shoulder angels. they're. A huge presence so you can feel them. They're a beam of white light. And then, angels do this thing where they come onto earth and stop accidents and do all these amazing things. So that is real. But now all these years in.

It is a [00:21:00] very subtle vibration for me. I know I'm with my guide before I do every single reading. A loved one kind of comes in. I can feel them from a certain area, and then the guides start talking and I can see who's talking to me, feel who's talking to me.

It's a conversation. So it really is such a different dynamic from kind of each. 

Karen: So cool. First of all, and the way you described it, I actually can visualize the difference 

Robyn: And why do you believe we come into this world, let's say, as humans?

So for us, it's a human experience. do you think? 

Erika: why are we here? , it's amazing to think about. There's so many answers to that question, but starting off, earth is our classroom. It's a classroom. It's where we come to learn. And just like before you go to college, you take a major, you plan out your classes, and we have all different reasons for coming back here 

and then sometimes we come, I found some people come just for one specific. one thing and the entirety. The rest is just choose your own adventure, So maybe they come. Someone in a past life just took unbelievable [00:22:00] care of them and sacrificed themselves for them, and they really wanna come back to support that person in some kind of way to complete this beautiful karmic contract.

I don't think karma is a harsh, mean thing. People are like, Karma's a bitch. I'm like, why do we have to make everything negative? It can be a beautiful complet. as well. Sometimes I've seen people come in just to be a doctor.

And they're gonna save, a couple thousand lives. And those lives are important that they're still here. And they came in to be a doctor. It doesn't mean the rest of their life isn't important and sacred, but you can come in for specific things like that. But really, earth is our classroom.

We're coming here to feel and to learn and to experience and bring our collective consciousness to higher levels. And that's why it's so interesting, we are elevating our consciousness. The earth, like we were saying, is being activated and going through a complete upgrade consciously.

Karen: Erika, can you just talk, take us back to that one moment when you were a little girl. I love that visual you gave us of you looking in the mirror and just recognizing yourself in this new body. Have you ever done work on your past lives or anything that gives [00:23:00] you that insight to why you're here this time?

Erika: Yeah, what's interesting is I have been working as a seer, an oracle, a medium all that for as long as I can see for a very long time. And I think, when I connect with those lives, a lot of those lives, I was completely ostracized. , it's like that crazy lady that lives on the corner of the village that, everyone is scared of, yet everyone goes to, to ask her advice.

So I think in this life, part of that is not just for me to be accepted, but to bring acceptance and to bring acceptance to this idea that you can connect with God. and that, it's okay. I cannot tell you how many people call me and they're very scared to connect with God on their own cuz they've been told there's only certain ways to do that.

So I think moving through these kind of illusions and these kind of harsh agreements that people put on us is a huge part of my path. You said I was quote normal, which I love. So I think in that normalcy people are like, okay, I can talk to her. She's semi-normal, little weird, but semi-normal

I think there's, a lot of [00:24:00] components to why I came back to do this work at this time once again, but there's been other lives as well that I've seen very specifically. 

Robyn: we've touched on that a little bit outside of this conversation because the three of us have had different past life experiences and all of it just helps to better understand why.

We are here right now for our own souls and to your point, collectively to raise consciousness. And I think people listening to this podcast are curious enough to listen, and many people listening are interested in being a part of raising that consciousness and figuring out how do they do.

On their own path. And so I think these conversations help them and inspire them to dig deeper into what's the right path for 

Erika: them. And what their purpose is. 

Robyn: Which actually is the perfect segue to talk about your course. The Way, I think it's so fascinating how it came to you.

So let's talk about how it came to you and really what. , 

Erika: That's an interesting thing cuz I had a course that I love, which was [00:25:00] all about getting to meet your spirit guide. And after I finished that course, it took me a year to finish that course I was like, done and done. That's it. That's it for me. That's my course. This is my life's work, and not too long after my guides were like, okay, you ready for the one that's gonna really help a lot of people? I'm like, no, I did it. They're like, I'm like, oh my gosh I don't have another course in me. Hahaha. Self-doubt. And my guides were like, let's download and I would come to my office. And I would lay on my floor. I'd like to lay on floors, lay on my floor, and then I'd watch a little Netflix on my computer, and then I'd go get a coffee, and then I'd put on makeup and I was just not ready for it.

And then finally I was ready for it and I had big whiteboards in my office and I literally downloaded the information and just started writing it all out. Things that I'd never thought of. things that I had no idea about putting them together in that way. It really was. And I asked my guides, what am I writing here?

And they literally told me, you're writing the way. And it happened really quickly. And I just downloaded it [00:26:00] all. And I think why that came out of that was because, so many people were having wonderful and sacred experiences during readings and, connect.

and then they would hang up the phone and be like, that was amazing, but now what? And now how do I get to that job that she mentioned? Or how do I move my life forward? I still don't have the tools. And so the way is a three lesson plan that helps you identify the blocks in your path, So many of us are feeling stuck and helpless. It helps identify the blocks. And then Spirit has given specific tools how to move through those blocks. And then from. , elevate your energy, visualize what you do want, not what you don't want, and then align with those very things that you want. And it's a journey it's special and it's something you can take with you for the rest of your life.

Robyn: And it seems like something that you could probably go back to. over and over, 

Erika: absolutely. And when I look at the way, and, I will sometimes slide through all lessons in a day, , there really. So much meat there and so much there that you can go back to. You can rework the tools, when you take the course, you have it [00:27:00] for life and you're meant to take notes on it as well.

So you can go back and look at those notes and look at your journaling anytime you want and go, oh fear or, . Oh, those are those false agreements. Okay. You can rework it and you can also work it for different things. So maybe you take the way cuz you wanna find love, or maybe you take the way because you're stuck in, you're ready to find your purpose.

You can apply the way to anything that you're working on at that time in your life. . Oh. And I 

Karen: think it's so wonderful that you put a tool together for people to follow up on after reading. Cause we talk about that all the time. it's such a wonderful experience and it energizes you and it makes you open to so many other possibilities and invites all these new questions into your life.

But then what do you do? Where do you go? How do you action it? How do I connect with my guides? How do I have that deeper level of experience and get those insights? So that to me, Like just what people need is that next step after to have the way have that journey continue. . 

Erika: thank you.

Yeah it's a map and the tools are simple tools, so I don't want people to think it's I'm making you meditate for two hours on the floor [00:28:00] saying which is beautiful, but that's not what it's like. There's visualizations and then very cohesive, simple tools that you can do to work through the things that are blocking you.

So it's, anyone can take it. Advanced spiritual seekers or even just, spiritual seekers that are just dipping their toe in. It really works for every. . 

Robyn: I think a lot of people need that right now. And to your point, in all aspects of life. it feels like a guide.

It's like a guided tour to your own soul. Within your own soul, which people are, I think, craving it, Especially with purpose, 

Erika: absolutely. And that's what the way can bring you to really finding your purpose. And it takes us back also through our past and figuring out what our initial intention was and working through those.

But what's cool too, about the way is like when you find something you wanna do, it's really important you don't blow up your life, So people. I know I actually wanted to be an artist. I'm like, woo, Don't quit yet. Keep doing what you're doing and find ways to unfold that passion in a way that feels really good.

And then when it feels really good and [00:29:00] it starts to unfold, then amazing things start to happen. And don't just abruptly blow up your life thinking your life is meaning. We still need to pay our rent or our mortgage 

Robyn: and that's what I what we mean.

We talk in quotes, normal. it's having a foot in reality and then having the other foot, which is the other foot in, this is what I aspire or feel like this need or calling for. I feel drawn to something else, but to your point, we still are. Living this earth life and we need to stay in some sort of 

Erika: reality.

 Spirituality is meant to help our journey here, not escape from it. And It's huge. It's use it. It's all part of why you're here. Use it to push your life forward. When you find your purpose and you get clarity, you are able to activate this incredible potential in yourself and shine that out.

And the more people that are shining out, the more elevated we are and the more beautiful the tapestry of the world is. I was talking to my son the other day, he's nine, and we were home from driving [00:30:00] in the city somewhere and he's I'm just distraught with seeing those homeless people.

Mom. He had a sign, he had a sign that said, please help. I'm hungry. Oh my gosh. And he was just destroyed over it. And it really just brought him to this dark place. And something we talked about, and this is applies to what we're talking about, I said, , do you know that if you get really sad and you stay really sad, that does not help that homeless man or homeless people?

I said, but what if you stay and work really hard in school and keep being kind and loving to your friends, and then you really find what you love to do and you shine that with the world, and then from there you're able to help lots of homeless people. , you're able then to what? What could you do?

Could you then start a charity? And it was just this amazing conversation just in his realm as a nine year old. But it's true for all of us. If we let things just make us sad and break us down, and this world sucks and there's so much darkness, and we really just push ourselves down, we are not helping ourselves, and we're certainly not helping [00:31:00] the darkness in the world.

The universe responds to the nature of your song. , are you contributing to the darkness or the light? The universe doesn't know that you're sad about the darkness. It just feels your energy going into darkness. So finding your passion, finding your truth, and shining that out affects the entire consciousness of the planet.

As big as that sounds. It's true. 

Robyn: That is huge So the lights went out, our power went out. We lost connection to Zoom, 

Karen: and that's never happened on any podcast we've ever done. 

Robyn: And what's so interesting is we were talking about darkness and light. And I just don't think that's a coincidence. 

Erika: I think when the energy is coming through so powerfully it's hard for electronics to hold that energy.

So like I broke maybe five iPhones doing readings on them When I first started. And I would send them back to Apple and they'd be like, I don't know what happened to this phone. We can't figure it out. And they would send me a new. Wow. It would blow up the phone. Not blow up like literally but the phone couldn't handle it because when Spirit is [00:32:00] coming through, there's a sense of not urgency in an anxious way, but these messages really need to be heard.

Yes, they need to be heard. And so spirit will sometimes come through in a very strong way. And we were talking about shining your light and the tapestry of the world and yes, we were, how you affect the world, it was like really coming in strong and then the lights went out.

Karen: Yeah. I know you were talking about your son earlier, which we were just saying, Robyn when you dropped off, I remember as a kid feeling the exact same way. There is that memory when you come into your earthly body that kind of comes in and out where you just know that you're not of this world in a way.

 You see yourself in the mirror and you. I recognize that you're a body, but you're recognizing things in the world that just shouldn't be because you just know better. But I just wondered about in your experiences, since you've had so many readings, are there one or two that really stand out for you, that have even wowed you, in all of your experiences?

Either their intensity of the message. And or the ability that it had to really transform the person that you were reading for 

Erika: in [00:33:00] some point? there's so many, and I forget. I also wanted to say, when, you know how you were talking about kids, it's like, , I also expressed to my son, never lose that compassion.

The compassion is so beautiful. So it's not saying oh, you shouldn't feel that way, but there is a way to use that compassion to shine and help others. So I just wanted to add that in there. Yeah, listen, every single day I give readings.

I'm like, Mic drop, that was crazy. Not crazy bad, but just wow. Spirit amazes me all the time, literally. And that's part of why I'm doing what I'm doing, because sometimes I'll give reading. I'm like, oh my gosh, I wish a million people could have heard that reading. That would've helped so many people.

This was a few weeks. . I was laughing cuz I was giving a reading to a woman who had lost her husband and he started singing in my ear that song from Mary Poppins. Chim Chim. Chim Chimney. Chim. Chim True. And he's singing it in my ear and I'm just like, okay. you know your husband is singing this song.

And I sang it to her and she was like, Ahoe my God. that was. [00:34:00] Absolute favorite movie, and that was the last movie we ever watched together before he died. So these incredible specific messages just blow you away. So that was a great one. And that was just so recent and I think also, the readings where someone has a mysterious death.

I think have really been amazing to experience and really come back and say, no, this was not a suicide, this was an accident, has been huge. I read for someone who her brother had. Been murdered years and years and years earlier, and they just had no idea what happened.

And he came through so strongly. He showed me the exact scene that took place where they were. She hadn't told me what was left behind. She hadn't told me why they got in the confrontation, how many people were there. And it's just so incredibly healing. There's so many mysteries and mysterious deaths, and we just don't know.

I was also able, I worked with someone and local police here on a cold case. That was an amazing reading. The person who they couldn't find came through, gave specific [00:35:00] details and they gave me a sheet with, I think there was eight to 12 people on it, and they were mugshots and they said can she pick out which one?

And I said, yeah. And she pointed to the man and they said, that is the number one suspect. And he is currently on death row for a very similar situation that she had just described. Wow. 

And this is just one example, there's 15 years of readings and they're really powerful.

But those are just some that pop and, It's amazing. After each reading I forget them. And I know that sounds so harsh, It's wow, I guess you don't care. Not at all. But it's not my reading, it's their reading and I give it to them. And then I move on. So there's so many that I don't remember, 

Robyn: and speaking of these readings, how do your readings work? , can you talk a little bit about that? If someone were to book a reading with you, what they could expect? 

Erika: Absolutely. So yeah you book a reading, it's. A 40 minute reading on Zoom and I just talk a little bit in the beginning about what I'm doing because when we're on the same reality, it just really helps move the reading [00:36:00] forward.

So everyone has such a different idea about what's gonna happen in reading. We do a little grounding. I pull from a series of decks. And you know what's amazing? I always tell people these are not fortune telling decks. Some of them I've been working with since I started. and I pull, cards because guides can pull specific cards to deliver some specific messages through the cards,

sometimes I don't even look at the cards during the reading. And sometimes things really pop, but I pull cards right at the beginning and then ask the person's permission and birthday and full name to read for them, and then I open to spirit and really just go in and read with my whole heart and soul.

I don't edit the information I tell people. I don't know if they ask me a question that I don't know, which sounds so novel, but it's true. I'm not trying to nail anything or get anything right. I just hold space and really experience what comes through for. . 

Robyn: And what I love too, having had a reading with you is that prior to even meeting with you, I wrote down a series of questions Yeah.

And so I really set my [00:37:00] intention prior to that reading and so I was prepared. I think it's really important if you're going to spend the time and the money on this type of experience, be prepared for it.

 And so those listening, if you book or reading, be prepared for it. 

Erika: Absolutely. And that's in my confirmation email.

Please prepare three specific And listen. Sometimes people are like, oh my gosh I sat for hours trying to figure out my questions. It's not meant to be stressful. It's just meant to give you an intention before the reading. And really, it also gives your guides time to get the answer together for you and really see where your soul and energy is and really bring you the answers that will best serve your path.

And why you came here and your life's purpose and mission. The three questions are great, and if I don't hear an answer to one of them, I'll tell you. I don't know. . So you really hear what you're meant to hear at that time. No more, no less, 

Robyn: Yes. That is very much how it felt to me.

And I know in my case, I. Received the guidance and answers I needed. for right now, there's no doubt. I felt really [00:38:00] empowered after the reading and still do. there are parts of it that have just literally stayed with me throughout my every day right now.

And they are very much moving me forward. It's a matter of also being open and ready. And and I know I was in that place, 

Erika: thank you. I love that. And you're, you were open and available to what came, yeah. Every once in a while someone's I don't wanna talk about anything but this one thing, and they get frustrated if it's not just that one thing, I think that is 

Robyn: such a good point now it's coming full circle.

which is how we started this conversation about when and the timeliness of certain messages and why you do or don't hear certain things. So let's expand on that just for another moment because we did start out the conversation that way, and we aren't always meant to hear things because it doesn't serve us.

We're here on this journey to overcome certain. Things to evolve our souls, and then collectively with consciousness. So what is your opinion on that? 

Erika: Sometimes what does come in a reading is a mystery to us, but I cannot tell you [00:39:00] how many emails I get.

And second time reading is I thought you were insane after my reading and now everything makes sense. So sometimes we get messages that we're almost need as nuggets as we move forward and we don't even know we need them. And sometimes our energy is so demanding that we hear certain things that we almost close the door.

So I don't give emergency readings. I do not do emergency readings cuz the energy is almost impossible because you're so closed and so upset, or so anxious or so demanding of spirit to tell you A, B, and C, that it really is not a great time to get a reading. So I think, spirit loves you and knows you so well and they truly work so hard to bring these messages forward.

So honoring spirit, trusting spirit is a huge part. I I trust spirit wholeheartedly. So I think what comes through is absolutely meant to come through at the absolute right time. So people are like, I can't get a reading for four months. I'm like cuz your guides. And they knew to prompt you to Yes, [00:40:00] exactly.

Robyn: such an important 

Karen: note. Is there anything, Erica, that you can say to people who are listening, who are trying to expand their own connection with Spirit, their own ability to hear or at least sense their angels and guides? 

Erika: Yeah, I would say number one, stay ground. Number one tool, stay grounded. If you don't know how to ground, then make that your first step and first priority, because if you wanna elevate your energy and go into higher realms and you start detaching from the body temple or the energy here on Earth it's really uncomfortable and it's not fun.

It sounds like it would be fun. It's not fun. So stay grounded. Find ways to ground yourself, whether you do that through walking in nature, yoga, deep breathing. After that. Find a way to quiet your. And you may be stuck there for years, but if you can't quiet your mind, it's very challenging to empty out your cup a little bit so that you're open and receptive to other information.

So find ways to quiet your mind. It's okay if you can only quiet your mind for two minutes. That's okay. Just find ways to ground quiet your mind so that you can turn [00:41:00] within, and then when you turn within. Start working on your relationship with your spirit guides is number one. I would not start going into different realms of spirit if you have not made a connection or contact with your spirit guide yet.

So that for me would be my first three steps that I would take in a broad sense, there's many details to quieting the mind or connecting with your spirit guide, but set an intention of getting grounded and what that feels like. Set your intention of quieting your mind and then put forth an intention just to connect with your spirit guide.

Just start there. And then through that connection you'll start to know what your spirit guide feels like. You'll start to trust each other, and then you can begin to create a sacred space with your guide and then start to work with them. And through there you can start to really tap into other realms of spirit.

Karen: in your definition of a spirit guide, is that guardian an angel? Is that the spirit that is assigned to you your whole lifetime? Does that spirit guide, do you have more than one? 

Erika: Yeah, I everyone has one or two spirit guides that kind of rides with them for life, and then there's some that come in and out during different times in your life as well.

[00:42:00] So there's a network there for. But there is a main spirit guide and I would definitely get cozy with them. as you go 

Robyn: on. Yeah. And do you still have that course for people if they want to better understand how to do 

Erika: that? Yeah, so I have, right now the way is up and then if you go to my website and you click on courses, you have the way, and then you have Spirit Guides, and then you have visualizations.

So there's two other offerings there. Spirit guides will be out soon. I'm taking my initial course and I'm renovating it. It's under renovation because I wanna make it a little shorter. The other course was a bit longer, and so it's gonna be a little bit shorter and really an intensive. A bootcamp on how to do the very thing that I was just talking about.

And then once you ground and quiet your mind, it will have all the steps of the way that you can work with your guides and get to know them. And that's what the intensive is. So that will be out soon. So check back with me on that. 

Robyn: Absolutely. That's awesome. Yeah, because I think once people really embrace the concept, Of spirit guides, then it's a matter of [00:43:00] understanding how do they connect.

We all have the ability, but it's a matter of figuring out how do you. Receive that information, Are you hearing it? Are you seeing it? for every person they have somewhat of a, wouldn't you say, have a different way?

Erika: Yeah, absolutely. And it's a relationship just like you have with your friends, how do you communicate with them? What's your thing? You have a friend that you always have coffee with, or you have a friend that you go for a hike with, or whatever it may be. Same thing with your spirit guide.

You're creating and developing a relationship. 

Robyn: Erica, who inspires you?

Erika: Oh, I love this question. I do have, not a guru, but a teacher that I have been following for 22 years and it's really the only teacher that I let into my heart and let guide me.

And that is Michael Bernard Beckwith, and I've been following him for literally 22 years. So I am safe with him. I love him. Last year he followed me on Instagram and I burst into tears. It was like the greatest thing that's ever happened in my entire career. Seriously? I'm like, magazines, interviews, [00:44:00] TV spots.

No, it was him following me. It was just mind blowing to me. 

Robyn: I just have to say, I have this document that it's like my digital notepad. At the very top of that notepad is a quote from reverend Beckwith. . Which I think is funny cause I only have one quote on here. That's amazing. So that, the fact that you said that is just, what is it, Robyn? What I wrote down is this is literally at the very top, he recommends stepping into the inner vibration of what it feels like when you have already succeeded.

And Karen, I think it was you who, had said that to me. 

Erika: I love it. And it's an amazing connection and I started going to Agape in LA like I said, 22 years ago, and it completely changed my life. So I love him so much. And at times I listened to Abraham Hicks. Because that is my husband's what he loves.

And we recently saw her here in Philadelphia which was very cool. So I think she's amazing as well. And you guys can play this back when I get to hang out with Michael Beckwith. And we get to do something together, you can place this back that it is my dream and I already see it happening, [00:45:00] so save this forever and then when it comes, we'll and we worked with 

Robyn: Michael Beckwith on super. Still Sunday. Super. Definitely. Which is how I was introduced 

Erika: to him. It's funny, the SuperSoul conversation that he had, I often just play while I'm going for walks and it's such a fantastic conversation and I love that one.

So it's so good. I don't know how it's gonna all come together, but I know I'm gonna meet him in some awesome capacity and hopefully work in some realm with him, which would be amazing. Yes. 

Karen: Erica, one that comes across when you talk if I didn't know who you were and I didn't know what you did, I would say you are a mash up of a doctor, a physician, and a preacher. There's something so spiritually, Healing about you 

Erika: my God, that's gonna make me cry.

Thank you so much. My dad is a doctor and I revere him so much. So to even say that, that's, so thank you so much and thank you for the preacher element cuz that's where my career is going. and you have such 

Robyn: confidence in your messages in your experie. [00:46:00] And the way that you express what you do.

And to Karen's point, it is that combination and having experienced your work firsthand, I felt that, I felt the confidence, the validity, the truth that came through and I felt guided by my spirit team. And there was. 

Erika: Collab. Yeah. 

Robyn: There really is that collaboration when working with you.

Think about 

Karen: what a unique gift that is to give to people. Because to your point earlier, we are so alone. We are experiencing this earth energy that is just so intense right now. And to have. An opportunity to have a direct line. Yeah. To your spirit guides and your angels and to be reminded that you have your loved ones there too, who are hoping to guide you.

We all need that 

Robyn: is such a 

Erika: gift. Thank you both so much. It's just so wonderful to connect with you both and just the dynamic and the understanding, and it's just awesome.

I can't wait to see where your connection goes and what you're [00:47:00] building. 

Robyn: It's just incredible. It's powerful. We feel. Divinely connected to you at this time on purpose. There's just no question how everything has come together and what we are working on and how we really see working together as we move forward.

You can find out more about working with Erica or taking her course the way@erikagabriel.com.

That's E R I K A G A B R I E l.com. You can also follow her on Instagram at Spiritual Medium, Erika with a K. And on Facebook at Spiritual Medium, Eri Thank you Erica.