Keep self unspotted from the world; condemning not self, but rather losing self in love - as ye have sought for thy fellow men.
-- Edgar Cayce reading 2505-1
My name is Radleigh Valentine. You may or may not have heard of me, but I am living a magical life.
What makes me say that?
Well, here was my life 10 years ago:
Radleigh Valentine, CPA: Debits on the left. Credits on the right. Pays corporate bills. Creates financial statements. Manages a bunch of other accountants. Works in taxes (for the government, for Pete’s sake).
And this is my life today:
Radleigh Valentine, best-selling Hay House author: Creator of five tarot decks, two books, one oracle card deck, with two more card decks and another book on the way. Teaches thousands of students not to be afraid of tarot or spirituality. Over 70 events in the last five years.
I know. You’re thinking, Wait. What? From CPA to spiritual teacher? How in the heck does that happen?
Easy. It was magic.
Now, before you roll your eyes, let me explain. To be honest, I had felt the magic in the world for some time when I decided to stop counting beans and follow my dreams. I wanted to be a spiritual teacher. I wanted to do what amazing people like Colette Baron-Reid, Denise Linn, and John Holland were doing. These days, my tagline in my work is “Life is Magic” but back then, it was more like “I’m too weird for Hay House.” But life really is magic. The thing is to tap into it.
I’ve always been sort of like a genie—running around trying to make everybody happy. Trying to make everyone’s wishes come true. Then one day, I just sort of started thinking, “But what about my wishes?”
It was time for me to be my own genie.
Inside all of us there is a touch of the Divine—the magic that comes from the “all that is.” It’s in you, and it’s in me. And when I wanted to transform my life, I started searching for the magic formula to find happiness.
One of the things I found was this super cool concept called “The Law of Attraction.” I thought, Well now. Isn’t this interesting. Really? That’s all there is to it?
What I discovered was, “Apparently not.” This Law of Attraction stuff made sense to me, but geez Louise (yes, I really do talk like that), it’s tricky stuff. It just wasn’t working for me at all. Wasn’t working for the friend of mine who brought it to my attention, either.
There had to be more. I didn’t throw the concepts of The Law of Attraction away. I felt that it was a piece but somehow not all of it. Or, somehow, I was getting in my own way.
Tales of Genies often begin with one who is stuck in a lamp or a bottle until someone comes along and releases them in exchange for wishes. However, if I was going to be my own Genie, I was going to have to get myself out of that lamp to make my wishes come true!
Yes, yes, the “Genie lamp” is a metaphor referring to whatever keeps us trapped or, at least, in the illusion of entrapment. In other words, it’s the ways in which we block our Divine magic.
What I eventually figured out was that the walls of the Genie lamp that kept me trapped were made up of three materials: regret, self-blame or judgment, and unforgiveness.
The other thing that I discovered that truly blew my mind was that for the magic to work, I had to be fully, completely, 100% authentically me. Even though all the male Hay House authors basically just ran around in black, I started wearing rhinestones. The other guys were in tennis shoes, and I was in shoes painted in Swarovski crystals. I openly talked about my husband, and swished across the stage telling jokes that had people in stiches, but then immediately whiplashed them into the most poignant of thoughts.
That’s my favorite mix, by the way. Laughter and poignancy. Love that stuff!
And you know what happened?
Magic. Pure magic. Everything I wanted to be started to happen. The more I was the real Radleigh, the more magical things just rushed into my life. I traded in my business jacket for sequins and that’s how I found magic. That’s how I found happiness.
You can do that too, you know.
