Bonus- Interview with Denise Correll

Bonus- Interview with Denise Correll Common Mystics Podcast www.commonmystics.net Jen: On this episode of Common Mystics, we talk with a master mystic and exceptional psychic medium, whom we ourselves aspire to be like. I'm Jennifer James. Jill: I'm Jill Stanley. Jen: We’re psychics. Jill: We're sisters. Jen: We are Common Mystics and we are so excited to talk with you today and share our very special interview. Jill: I'm dying. I'm so excited. Okay guys, she is a highly sensitive empath and a psychic medium. She is the co-host of Enlightened Empaths podcast. She is an educator with a background in special education, and she holds advanced degrees in educational leadership. Today she's a professional psychic and psychic medium, and she holds classes to teach young mediums like ourselves. Please welcome Denise Correll! Thank you again for doing this. And we are so excited. Jen: We're so excited. We're going to try not to fangirl too much. Denise: Oh, you're so sweet. There's no fangirl. Thank you. Jill: How would you describe your relationship with the paranormal growing up? Denise: I was really lucky that, um, my father was an intuitive medium. Of course he didn't call it that. He was just a regular down to earth working-class guy. Uh, but I grew up with being taught to listen to that little voice, follow your heart, trust your gut. Um, you know, it was really normal to, at home anyway, to talk about spirit or feeling energy or any of those things. So I grew up with that, but then outside of that nuclear family, it's really hard to transfer that because a lot of people, especially back when I was a kid, that's not a normal world, that's not normal. So I feel really blessed that I grew up with that, but also, um, it took a long time to finally step into it and say, it's okay to be this way. Jen: How would you describe the difference between psychics and psychic mediums? Denise: Psychic is intuition. You're reading the aura around someone, the energy, you're picking up on premonitions, a lot of time claircognizance or a clairsentience where you just know things or sense things. That's more of a psychic thing. You might, it might come through with dreams that might come through with getting signs from spirit. Whereas mediumship is connecting more to something else and it may be you're connecting to a loved one in spirit. It may be that you're connecting with the angelic realm or with guides and, and, and, uh, guardians. I mean, there's so many different realms of existence. And I think that for me personally, it feels different. Like it's a different vibrational level when I connect with someone or something in spirit versus another person on this plane's energy. Jill: Wow. And when you realized you were a medium, how, how did that impact you? Denise: So for a lot of folks around when they were little kids and then they shut it off. But then again around late teens, early twenties, there's usually another big surge and that's when kind of the gates blow open for a lot of people. It can be overwhelming. That's why, my own personal opinion, I think there's a lot of people that are highly sensitive or natural mediums that may self-medicate with substances to try to dull that a little bit or to shut it off because it's so much to deal with. It's so hard to deal with. And then again, I think later in life, it circles back around again. But, what's really fascinating to me is that now we're seeing people coming in wide open and they're not shutting it off. Like the, the younger kids today, the babies coming in, they are these beautiful, beautiful rays of light. And they're just, they're not going to dull their [abilities], they're going to keep going with it. So, but I would say, you know, little kids, late teens, early twenties, and then again, in a lot of folks in their forties and fifties get another big surge. Jen: How did you balance then your “psychic life” with motherhood and then your professional life? Denise: Uh, not, well. Well, it's almost like having an alter ego that I, and I was a single mom. So I was in that whole world of, you know, 24 hours a day, always go, go, go, working full-time, all the things that we do when you do what you have to do. And I hid it for a long time. I was around people who discounted it. I was in a relationship with my ex husband. He wasn't a big fan, so I kind of shut it all down for quite a long time. And then it, you know, if you're meant to open that door, spirit will revisit and revisit and revisit and say, how about now, are you ready now? And that's kind of what happened with me. So as far as finding the balance throughout all that time, I always call it being a closet psychic. You know, you're still reading the books, you'd be watching the movies. You're trying to find like-minded people, but it's a very anonymous existence between that and your real life. Jill: What advice would you give to people who are struggling with, um, opening up to spirit and, and developing those talents? Denise: Well, see, that's a great question because I think a lot of people are afraid or they're afraid that they'll be, you know, swooped into some big vortex or that there'll be dark energies waiting for them, or what if I can't, you know, step away from it. There's, there's a lot. And I don't think the media really helps that much, but that's a story for another day. I think, learning to trust yourself and realizing, my gut feeling, I think we all come this way. I think we all come intuitive and open and sensitive to energy. And it's a choice of whether or not you want to open that door. And a big thing is if you can find a safe place to do this or do your own research, but like-minded people and that's, what's so fabulous about right now is everything is virtual. So I live in a very small town and this has been my life for years and years. And it's only been the last year or so that anyone around here even knew I did this because I kept it so anonymous from my real life. And I'm talking to people all over the world and yet no one in my little town even knew that I was a medium. So, I mean, it's really a choice of who you want to let in or how you want to, you can, you can do this without having to, you know, and I always joke and say, it doesn't matter what closet you come out of. It's really about being vulnerable, being scared. Will I be ostracized? Will I be accepted? And I think for a lot of us that are, that have, or are struggling with stepping into that more fully, those are some of the things that we're trying to work through as well. Jen: Hmm. Yeah. What you just described really resonates with me. And I know it will with a lot of our listeners as well. So I guess my next question is how did you then come to fully embrace, um, being a professional medium? Denise: Well, this goes back to if, if this is a path you're meant to take, spirit will keep bringing it back, bringing it back. So several, many years ago now about, well, that's a matter of decades. Uh, I was working with a woman and her husband passed unexpectedly and I didn't really know her well. She was an administrative assistant in the building where I worked and he wouldn't leave me alone. Like I knew I'd never met this man. I wasn't friends with this woman. So I knew she was leaving. She was going to move back to where she had come from. And I said, well, I asked her, I said, are you a fundamentalist Christian, by any chance? And she said, no, that's a really odd question. And I said, well, here's the deal, and I pulled her aside and I told her, you know, I sense spirit. I have been getting these feelings about your, your husband and how he passed. And he wants to let you know he's okay. But the clue from spirit was she had the same name as my best friend in high school, which is a unique name and spelled really [uniquely]. So number one, her husband and my father had the same name, same profession, died at the same age. Our oldest sons have the same birthday. Our mothers have the same birthdays. Our other sons have the same names. We have the same kind of dogs. It was almost like, okay, Denise, you're damn well not going to miss this one. We're going to make it so clear that you're ready for this. That we're just going, you, you won't be able to ignore it. And I think for a lot of us, we'll keep getting those signs or those nudges or those things that just keep nagging at you a little bit. And it's like, wow, I think I'm on the right track with this. And then before you know it, it's full speed ahead. And you can't turn back. Jill: So as you are, um, as you were realizing, like, this is really happening...I have a two-part question: one, were your abilities changing and growing and two, how did you keep yourself from feeling like you're like a fraud, like this can't really be happening? Cause it seems so surreal, surreal sometimes. Denise: Exactly. And I think I get nervous before every single reading. And I think that's a good thing because I don't want it to be about me. I want it to be about spirit. I want to be the messenger. I get out of the way. It comes through me, not from me. And, and I think that there's a really fine line with trying to make it about yourself, but I'd be a liar if I said, I still didn't get anxious and worried, and I'm taking a class right now, uh, online because I, about a month ago, I thought I need to get my skills up. I'm not, you know, it's just that, that cyclical pattern of self doubt and worry. And one of my sons is very linear. And when I first started going more public with this and building it as a business, he said, “So you hear voices that aren't there, you see things other people don't see, and people are going to pay you money to do this.” I said, yes. And he said, “You know that’s schizophrenia, right?” And I said, no, it's not the same thing. I've worked on mental health units. It's not the same thing, but, but I just think it's so distant for so many people, but it, it really is. Um, I feel blessed to be able to open that door and be the conduit. But you're spot on with it being a balance because sometimes... am I, am I crazy? Am I losing it? Because it will come in these big waves and these ebbs and flows where it's almost overwhelming with how much you're absorbing and then there'll be dust bunnies and tumbleweeds. And it's like, Oh, is it gone now? Or is it going to come back? That's just part of the cycle of this and that. Um, and what I love, love, love about this work is you can never tap out. You're never going to learn everything there is to learn. You're never going to be like, Oh, I have all of this. There's always something new. There's always a new level. I just absolutely love that. Jill: I love it, too. What a good analogy for life. Jen: Yeah, totally. And... just an aside, it is so reassuring for me personally to hear that you, who we both consider is a master, question yourself and wonder and continually take classes and try to improve your skill. And with that, you also teach classes on mediumship, right? Denise: Yes. Yeah. Jill And you have the advanced mediumship class coming up. Jen: Well, we're both really interested in that. And if, like, we, for instance, want to be a part of that, how, how does, how does that work? Denise: Oh, I will definitely pop you a note and I'll show you the little survey that we send out, but it's, it's kind of, it builds on the first course. The first course we teach is very basic stuff. It's learning to identify your Claire's. It's, it's sensing, it's trying to make that connection. It's almost a combination between psychic and beginning mediumship because there is a blend between the two, but we work a lot on that. It's more of an evidential standpoint, which is incredible for any beginners. You know, are you sensing a male or a female? Is there, uh, are you getting an age? Are you getting any physical reactions? We kind of help you tune into how your system of connecting with spirit works. With the advanced group, most of the people in that group already have that foundational skill or they're more confident, or they've worked a little bit as a medium or they're feeling like, okay, I know my chakras, I know how I connect with spirit. I know how I pick things up or get my signs. And then we build on those skills in the second class. Jill” Ok that’s very cool. Jen: Very cool. And if our listeners wanted to learn a little bit more about your classes, they could go to your website, right? Denise: Yes. Or pop me a note at [email protected]. Jill: So let's break down the process. This is going to be a fun part. Jen: Not that the beginning part wasn't the fun part. So, okay. We hear meditation, meditation, meditation. How big of a role does meditation play in- for you - for your development and accessing your abilities prior to doing readings? Denise: I'm almost hesitant to say this because I don't meditate. I don't sit in silence. Jill: I love you SO MUCH. You don’t understand how happy I am that you said that. Denise: And, and I almost feel like there's going to be people with, with pitchforks running out of the woods at me. Because I journal every morning. For me that's a form of meditation. It clears my brain. When I walk in the woods with my dog, when I go to the river, when I'm by the ocean, for me, meditation is out in nature. It's when I'm quiet and alone out in it. And for me, that's a huge, huge time of spirit, is to be out alone in nature. And I'll do a walking meditation. So if I'm walking, I'll count my steps and just get into that repetitive thing. Or I will, um, you know, just feel that energy outside. I don't do. I've tried, I've tried doing more traditional things. I do have insight timer on my phone and sometimes I'll listen to something as I'm walking, but I think meditation is whatever works best for you. And for some people, it may be through physical activity. It may be through walking. It may be through another thing. Uh, if I sit and do any kind of hand work, I crochet, I knit, I make jewelry, anything like that, it calms me down and I get into that rhythmic breathing and it shuts my brain off. So I think that's also a form of meditation, but you're right. If you go to any kind of place or class or teacher or mentor, they'll generally say, Oh, you have to meditate in a traditional way. And I just, I'm not wired that way. Jill: Oh gosh. Thank you so much for saying that because we feel the exact same way and feel guilty for not doing it. So, you have a client you're preparing for the reading. What does that look like? Denise: So I have, uh, and this is a big thing is ritual and routine. You want to have some kind of a structure that you go into that mode. So I have a prayer and a quick meditation that I do. It's just more of a mantra kind of thing that I repeat. I do it in the same sequence. I, um, I, you know, sometimes I'll smudge a little bit. I usually light a white candle. I hold space, but I don't, uh, this is another thing that some people think, Oh, I have to meditate for an hour before I can do a reading. I think with practice, it becomes more automatic. But when you institute some form of ritual and routine, it's almost like it's a signal to you to switch off ego and get ready to work. But it's also a signal to spirit. Okay, she's ready to work. Let's go. So if you, if you're, if you have a religious background, it can be with traditional religion, it can be with, you know, uh, it doesn't matter what it is. It's more so about what works best for you. Jill: I love that. Jen: That's awesome. So, as you are reading, how do you receive information and then how do you discern whether it's you or it's really information you're receiving? Denise: Okay. So that's... a huge part of that is gaining self-confidence and practice because (can, can we swear on this show?) because I used to double guess the shit out of myself all the time. Am I really getting that? Am I making this up in my head? I would... Obviously, when I started, it was face-to-face stuff. We weren't virtual. It wasn't, you know, it was doing some phone work, but not like all the zoom calls that I do now. And I would, like, watch and see... and that's the thing... you can't help but watch facial cues or body language. So then that adds to the doubt because you're thinking, Ooh, I'm trained as a behaviorist. So am I looking for the behaviors to validate what I'm getting. But then it gets to the point where you don't doubt yourself so much. And you just, and now in the reading, if someone's saying, mm, I can't, I, I'm not sure about that. I'll say, please put it on the back burner and come back to it later. It may make more sense. So I've gained more confidence in that, but sometimes like for me, I'll get the Willy's, I'll get goosebumps from head to toe. I always know I'm in the zone when I get that, or it will come in my, my signs continue to grow or I'll get, I'm very clairvoyant, so I'll get like a picture in my mind's eye. My clairaudience... And that's, what's really cool too. It doesn't matter what you start with. So if you're predominantly claircognizant and your, uh, so your claircognizant, you just know things, and you're like, Ooh, I really want to be clairaudient, or I want to be clairvoyant. It, it all, it's sequential. It builds. So you might start out claircognizant, clairsentience, and then all of a sudden, you start to get flashes in your mind's eye, or you start hearing song lyrics, or you start sensing something, or you start getting smells. So it continues, as I said earlier, to grow and evolve the more and more you do the work. But you'll, you'll gain more confidence the more you do it. Jill: After you're done with a reading, do you have to shake off the energy or like close the door on it? How does that look when you're, when you're done reading? Denise: If I'm doing readings all day long, I'll open up in the morning and I'll ground myself. I'll pull energy up through my chakras. I'll do my prayer meditation, I'll get everything ready. I'll hit the floor running and I'll do readings sometimes quite a few in the course of a day. And then at the end of the day, I'll shut that down. I'll just do a reverse process where I shut my chakras down. I closed the chakras down. I push that energy back into the earth and it's almost like, okay, I'm done now. And it took me a long, long time to be able to do that and not, not have energy hanging around, not to feel drained, not to feel like something was wearing me down. So I think that that's really, really important is go into mode, do your work, but shut it off. Because if not, I think that's when people attract a lot of energy into their space or into their own auric field is when they're not turning it on and off. So, and this is kind of a pet peeve of mine, is when you'll see people and they'll say, Oh, I can never shut it off and I go in a store... and I'm thinking, there's no way in hell. You could live that way. Stop it. That's not true. I don't understand. I mean, are we sensitive to other people's energy? Of course we are. Do we walk through a big, uh, you know, box store or concert venue or something and pick up all that energy? Of course we do. But as far as constantly being bombarded, then my own personal opinion is you're not doing the work to turn yourself on and off and be off it. It takes away from your ability to be of service to spirit. If you're constantly on. Jill: That's a great point. Jen: So you've already talked about taking classes, but are there other things that one can do or that you do to stay sharp as a psychic and a medium? Denise: Uh, I really, I read a lot of books about this, or I will watch videos or I'll listen to spiritual podcasts or radio, or I'm kind of a Juju junkie when it comes to that, as far as that's what I love. That's what I am. That's what I do. And as far as taking the classes, one of the reasons that I love to do that, or to be on the, the, uh, forums... it’s community. And it's nice like this, this one that I'm taking right now, it's just so nice to be around people like me and not have to explain it. Jill: Hmm. Great point. Love that. So Jen and I wrote up some fun questions that we want to ask you. They're just, they're just fun and thoughtful. Jen: So what Tarot card do you connect with most and why? Denise: See, that's interesting because I, I love, love, love the Tarot. I use it a lot in my work. I've had a deck since I was 17. It's just, it's, it's part of who I am using the cards. And I, it's interesting. I would say the Empress just because that's kind of my archetype, is that mother nurturing energy. I want to nurture. I want to encourage. I want to support. I want to help people step into their creativity. And, and I, I guess I would have to go with that. Jill: Love that. Ouija boards: what are your thoughts? Good, bad, stay away, burn? Denise: Okay. So I did some training at a spiritualist camp here in Maine years and years ago, I did a mediumship course at a spiritualist camp. And one of the people there was really big on the Ouija board. Personally, I'm not a big fan. Uh, I, I think it's a tool like anything else. So if, but my concern is with any kind of tool, any kind of divination, are you doing this for highest and best to connect with something that's at a higher vibration and frequency? Or are you just opening the doors and letting anything come in? Because there is polarity, there is dark and light. I don't like dark in real life. I sure as hell don't want to bring it in from the other side. Jill: I love that. That's a great point. Jen: In your opinion, what makes a psychic a good psychic? Denise: I think, and, and that's an interesting question because as this gains more mainstream acceptance, as more people are opening up to who they really are, or I see people though take, oh, a weekend class and then say, “Ooh, I'm a psychic, I'm a medium, I'm ready, I'm ready, I’m running a business….” And for some people that works beautifully, it's just that they needed that little nudge out the door. But to me, I think being really careful about being sure you're ready to do that, because... you'll get to a point, if you choose to do this, to read for other people, to make it more of a profession, to make it more of what your everyday life is, you get to a place where you can't turn back. It becomes so much a part of your life and it defines a lot of aspects of your life. So I think really knowing you're making a commitment to yourself, to spirit. [That] it's going to have an impact on your life is a really important thing to consider. Jill: Is there anything too “woo woo” that, um, in metaphysical philosophy that you just can't subscribe to? Denise: See? I have, I have a background with some shamonic training. I'm a medium, I've done a lot of different modalities. I'm very open to that there's many realms of existence that we can tap into. So I'm open to that, but sometimes I think I'm not a big fan of the darker stuff. I don't, that concerns me a little bit because I think people become really into that. They want to manifest it. They want to live in that world. And that makes me a little uncomfortable just because it's not my energy. If that's what lights you up and you want to do, that's great. But please realize what you're doing and what doors you're opening and that it's not, it's not a party game. Jen: How do you recognize opportunities for spiritual growth when they come to you? Denise: Usually they come right out of left field. Like this class that I'm taking, I wasn't looking for it. It showed up on a feed and I was like, Ooh, that looks good. It just seems like when you're ready, spirit will put out those Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs, step here, step here, step here. And, and I think because it's becoming more... We have podcasts. We have YouTube channels. We have TV shows. We have all of these things, movies, documentaries, people are getting bombarded with this whole, uh, plethora of options. So I would say, go with what resonates most with you. If you're feeling like, Oh, I really want to learn how to do energy work and Reiki, or I want to explore dreams, or I want to explore.... There's, there's an avenue to take, but just trust your gut and see what spirit brings to you. Jen: Do you ever find yourself saying, yeah, no, not today. Like, I know I should do this, but yeah, I'm just, I'm just not ready right now. Do you ever find yourself saying that? Denise: Yes, all the time. It's funny you say that because I will get a nudge and I'll, I'll almost be really, andI'm stupid stubborn. I'm not going to pretend, I've changed that to, I have a lot of perseverance and tenacity. No, I'm stubborn. And I know I'm not doing that right now. I don't want to, I'm not ready. And, and for me, it's a vulnerability thing, or it goes back to what you were saying, the imposter syndrome. I don't think I'm ready for this next step, or I don't think anyone really needs or wants to hear that. Or it's those old patterns and loop tapes that we put ourselves through that can limit us from fully stepping into our power light and our purpose. Jen: Right. But if it's meant to be, it'll keep coming back. Right? Just because you say not today, it's going to keep coming back to you? Denise: Yes. I kinda want to segue with that just a tiny bit... is when people want it so much, they want it so damn badly. And then it doesn't. Why is it not working? Why am I not getting the signs? Why? Because you're getting in the way you're, you're not allowing, you're trying to control. Jill: Yes. That's such a fine line. Jen: It is. Yeah. Jill: How can you, um, just to piggyback on that, how can you become aware that you're more controlling than allowing? Like, what are, what is a surefire sign that, Oh, that's what I'm doing? Denise: If I start, uh, perseverating, obsessing about a thought, pushing too hard, uh, over analyzing, over researching... Number one thing: anyone that's listening that wants to do it, don't compare yourself to anybody else. Because if you're truly doing this from your soul work to the soul of the universe, it will match up. You'll attract the people you're meant to work with. You'll also, if you're standing in your truth with this work, it can't be replicated. And there's an authenticity to that, which makes you unique. And, and the people that you're meant to work with will resonate with your frequency and it will build and grow. Whereas if you're just trying to emulate someone else, you're never going to reach that place of truly stepping into your work with fullness. Jen: I love that. Jill: Yeah. That's a great piece of advice. Especially for us. We work off each other and we compare ourselves. We have the sister dynamic. So I think that that's a good indicator for us. What psychic living or deceased would you most like to meet and learn from? Denise: Yeah, you had sent me that question and I thought about it and I thought about, you know, all the famous mediums and psychics and intuitives, empaths. But really if I had a magic wand wish, I wish I could like sit and have a cup of coffee with my father and talk about this stuff at a level we never did when I was a kid. Jill: I just got goosebumps. I love that. Denise: Yeah. And I mean, I can connect with him in spirit and other mediums can bring him in, but I would just love to have a conversation. And, and because if you think back, uh, my father was from a generation where this wouldn't have been... men, men, you know, big burly men wouldn't mention, Oh, I can sense spirit or I see things, or I hear things... that just wouldn't have happened. So the fact that he could do that at home... but I truly, that would be my person. Jill: I love that so much. Jen: So if you had the opportunity to give a message to a new soul incarnating for the first time, what would that message be? Denise: Wow. Stay true to your light. Jen: Ooh. Oh... Jill: That's really sweet. Denise: And that's a good example of getting out of the way, because I started to choke and then that just came out of my mouth. So if you ever have those things just fly out of your mouth and you're like, Ooh, that was good. And you don't really know where the hell it came from… It's a good sign it's not you, it's spirit stepping in and saying, okay, let me rescue your ass one more time. Jen: Denise, you are so lovely and gracious. And I learned so much just in this conversation. Jill: And we're really going to take your class because I think that we, we need to have better practice and structure, and I recognize your gifts are so amazing and they seem so familiar. It's really odd, it feels very familiar to talk to you. Oh, where can listeners find you? Denise: You can, we have the, um, podcast with Samantha Fey and I, and that's Enlightened Empaths. And it's on all the major podcast venues. And if you want to find me specifically, it's www.thegratefulmessenger.com or you can email me at [email protected] Enlightened Empaths and The Grateful Messenger both have Facebook pages and Instagram if you're interested in either of those. Jill: You're wonderful. Thank you so much for being so gracious and generous with your time. Denise: Oh, thank you both. And I look forward to working with you both. Alright. Bye ladies. Jill: We’ll talk with you soon. Love you! Denise: Love you too. Bye bye. Jen: Wow, that was amazing. I highly highly recommend you check out Denise’s podcast and her website www.thegratefulmessenger.com She has so much to offer. Jill: Honestly, I, when I need a reading, she is who I go to and she could not be more impressive. It shocks me every time. Jen: All right, Jill. Tell the people where they can find us. Jill: Please check out our website, www.commonmystics.net. Check out our Facebook page and our Instagram account, Common Mystics. Also check us out at Amazon music, Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcast, where you can leave us a positive review, so other people can find us. Generally, guys, we're pretty much out there everywhere you're listening to your favorite pods. Thank you everybody. Good night. Thank you. Good night.