My Story

I have always known that there is more to life than what we can see.

In truth, I cannot remember a time when the spiritual world was entirely separate from my everyday experience.

From childhood, I experienced clairvoyance, clairaudience, vivid and lucid dreams, inner knowing, and profound spiritual experiences. I did not initially think of these things as unusual. They were simply part of the way I experienced the world.

Some of my earliest memories are spiritual ones—praying to God as a very young child and experiencing an unmistakable sense of presence and relief, knowing things I could not easily explain, and having experiences that would remain with me throughout my life.

One of the most profound occurred when I was still young: a vision of Jesus accompanied by the words:

“You can be like Him.”

I did not fully understand those words then. In many ways, I have spent much of my life trying to understand them.

A Spiritual Life Lived in the Human World

My spiritual path did not take me away from ordinary human life.

It took me deeply into it.

I became a nurse, a wife, and a mother of three sons. Through nursing, I have encountered people during some of the most vulnerable moments of human existence—illness, uncertainty, suffering, transition, life and death.

Those experiences strengthened something I had intuitively sensed since childhood:

We are more than our physical bodies.

Throughout those years, my clairvoyance, clairaudience and spiritual sensitivity remained part of my life. What changed was not the existence of these abilities, but my understanding of them.

I wanted to know why I experienced what I experienced.

I wanted to understand consciousness, the soul, God, intuition, mediumship and the unseen dimensions of existence—not simply through belief, but through experience, study, contemplation and discernment.

That search became a lifelong path.

My studies have led me through mediumship and Spiritualism, Christian mysticism, Hermeticism, Kabbalah, the Western esoteric tradition, ancient spiritual texts, consciousness studies, energy healing, and the writings of mystics, philosophers and spiritual seekers across generations.

Again and again, I have found humanity returning to the same great questions that fascinated me as a child:

Who are we?

Why are we here?

What is the soul?

What happens when we die?

What is our relationship with God?

And what capacities might exist within human consciousness that we have barely begun to understand?

Those questions now sit at the heart of my work.

The Journey of the Soul

Today, I am a spiritual teacher, clairvoyant, clairaudient, intuitive, psychic medium, Intuitive Soul Coach and Spiritual Death Doula. I am also an ordained minister, Reiki Master, author, and lifelong student of spirituality, consciousness and the mystical traditions.

Although these may appear to be different paths, to me they are expressions of the same deeper calling:

to understand and illuminate the journey of the soul.

At the heart of my work is something I call the Blueprint of the Soul.

I believe our lives are more than a collection of random experiences. Within each life we can discover patterns—our natural gifts, wounds, relationships, recurring lessons, desires, challenges and possibilities for growth.

Why are we drawn toward certain things?

Why do particular lessons seem to repeat?

Why do some gifts seem to have always been within us?

And why do our deepest wounds sometimes become the very places from which our greatest wisdom emerges?

Part of the spiritual journey, I believe, is becoming conscious of these patterns and discovering what they may be asking us to understand.

As an Intuitive Soul Coach, I help people explore this deeper terrain—to look beneath the circumstances of their lives and recognize their gifts, patterns, inner calling and possibilities for growth.

Tarot as a Mirror of the Soul

Tarot is another language through which I explore the soul's journey.

For me, tarot is much more than prediction.

It is a symbolic and archetypal mirror through which we can contemplate the movement of the soul.

Its imagery can illuminate where we have been, what may be unfolding beneath our conscious awareness, the choices before us, and the possibilities that may lie ahead.

A tarot reading does not remove free will or personal responsibility. Instead, I believe it can help bring what is unconscious into consciousness and invite us to ask a deeper question:

What is my soul attempting to show me through this experience?

Accompanying the Soul Through Life's Final Transition

My work as a Spiritual Death Doula brings me to another profound part of the human journey—the transition from life toward death.

My focus is spiritual: offering education, spiritual guidance and ritual support while creating space for individuals to explore questions of meaning, consciousness, the soul, God, and what may lie beyond physical life.

My nursing experience and spiritual work meet in a particularly meaningful way here.

Death has always been one of humanity's greatest mysteries. Yet contemplating death can also teach us something extraordinary about how we choose to live.

Within & Beyond

All of these paths eventually led to Within & Beyond, my platform for exploring consciousness, spirituality, mediumship, mystical traditions, ancient wisdom and the deeper mysteries of human existence.

The name expresses much of my philosophy.

Within is the journey inward—to consciousness, intuition, healing, self-knowledge, the soul and the Divine within.

Beyond is the exploration of what may exist beyond our ordinary perception—mediumship, consciousness beyond the physical, mystical experience, ancient wisdom and the great mysteries of existence.

My intention is not to tell people what they must believe.

I believe genuine spiritual development should encourage curiosity, discernment and personal responsibility.

I want people to explore.

To question.

To study.

To develop their own intuition.

To become conscious of the patterns within their lives.

To explore the wisdom humanity has inherited.

And ultimately, to deepen their own relationship with the Divine and the mystery of their soul.

For me, this journey did not begin when I decided to become a spiritual teacher.

It began when I was a little girl who could see, hear and experience things she did not yet have the language to explain.

All these years later, I am still exploring.

Still questioning.

Still learning.

And now I share what I have discovered with others who have felt that same quiet knowing:

There is more.

More to consciousness.

More to the soul.

More to this life.

And perhaps the greatest journey we will ever undertake is the journey of discovering who we truly are.

Lorraine J. Appleyard
Spiritual Teacher • Clairvoyant • Psychic Medium • Intuitive Soul Coach • Spiritual Death Doula • Author