Spiritual Compass: Practical Strategies for When You Feel Lost, Alone and God Seems Far Away

By Sue Hannibal

Spiritual Compass: Practical Strategies for When You Feel Lost, Alone and God Seems Far Away will enrich your life and open your mind. It begins with an autobiographical account of the author’s own painful journey through the “Dark Night of the Soul,” a spiritual crisis that readers whose lives have been upended by a spiritual calling may recognize. Like a tuning fork that resonates perfect pitch, 38 channeled essays bracketed by practical wisdom and practical strategies from the author’s nearly two decades of private practice convey unvarnished universal Truths with a capital “T.”

This book will resonate deeply with the both the spiritual seeker called to a path of service and in need of guidance as well as those who’ve been chasing healing, sometimes for years, but have not found it through conventional psychiatry or psychotherapy. It provides possible answers to the questions “Why am I here?” “Why is this happening to me?” It also reveals:
• Differences between spiritual communion with God and religious indoctrination/dogma
• How to discover hidden roots of panic attacks, phobias and emotional patterns
• Why everyone has access to intuitive guidance and how to act on it
• How to read energy, your own and others, through metaphor language

Part II takes you into the healing room to witness cases of food allergies and hoarding rooted in past-lives, eight years of panic attacks from a traumatic birth, a case of multiple personality disorder and 27 years of phantom limb pain in an amputee that released in one session.

The journey of self-resurrection is preceded by accurate self-assessment and followed by deep healing. As the journey unfolds, clients arrive in present time centered, grounded and at peace, embracing their recovered identity, voice, and power. You might see yourself and others in this first volume of the Spiritual Compass series, which is at times startling, always direct and is peppered with nuggets of scriptural truth that support your journey of renewal of mind, body and spirit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sue Hannibal
• Release date: Feb 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780996977128

Sue Hannibal

Sue Hannibal is an Amazon #1 best-selling author, gifted medical intuitive, healer, spiritual teacher and trauma expert in international private practice since 1999. Her intuitive readings, done in person or remotely and knowing only her client’s name and age, accurately reveal the emotional, physical or spiritual roots of trauma and/or illness. Since 2004, Sue has taught licensed mental health professionals how to read energy and heal trauma holistically. She can be reached at www.suehannibal.com. Her newest book, the first of a series, is "Spiritual Compass: Practical Strategies for When You Feel Lost, Alone and God Seems Far Away."

Book preview

i. Foreword

Over the course of two decades of private practice as an integrative physician, I’ve treated, mentored, coached and counseled thousands of patients. I’ve also, the author informs me, functioned as a spiritual compass for her for over 17 of those years. You’ll likely see yourself in the pages of this fascinating book that is part memoir, part spiritual guidebook and part doorway to uncharted states of consciousness that produced profound healing for people who had been unable to find it anywhere else.

Sue Hannibal was referred to me in 1997 at the beginning of a spiritual awakening that required years of deep healing through the archetypal journey of the Wounded Healer. I have assisted hundreds of patients who have struggled, as she has, to regain their balance when their life has been turned inside out. Sue initially presented, as many people do, with depression over the breakup of a marriage and was desperately seeking guidance. Her intuition, which we are all born with, gradually emerged to guide her as well. Intuitive abilities come in a variety of styles and levels of power. You will learn the value of acting on, and in one passage the dangerous result of not acting on, your own intuition.

In Part I, those seeking direction in an increasingly stressful, anxious world may find it in 38 channeled essays which express universal spiritual principles. Others who may find themselves in a personal or spiritual crisis will find illumination in the one-size-fits-all wisdom.

In Part II, you gain rare access to the healing room where you will witness scenes of supernatural phenomena as well as the transformation of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues that in some cases had persisted for years. This volume will empower you to investigate integrative medicine and holistic healing, especially those still searching for solutions due to the limitations of western medical, psychiatric and psychological approaches. The true case histories profiled here, for example eight years of panic attacks in an Army officer that were rooted in his traumatic birth, will demonstrate to readers (and I hope to some of my medical and psychiatric colleagues) that thinking outside the box is allowed if the treatment is effective and does not harm.

Since 2004, Sue has taught hundreds of students, including licensed mental health clinicians, to read energy so they can intuitively diagnose the hidden roots of trauma, whether they find the roots in this dimension or the next. As she says to her therapist students, Who can define the timeline of the soul? If tracing the energetic signature of trauma leads to a traumatic birth, the womb or a past-life and releasing that brings healing in present time, don’t wring your hands over it, just do it.

Many healers cannot teach and many spiritual teachers cannot heal. Sue can do both.

As in any true story, the vulnerability and courage required to reveal personal details makes this a compelling read. By telling her story from her heart, Sue encourages you to jettison fear, take up your own spiritual compass and follow the calling of your own heart.

Benedict Masilungan, M.D.

ii. Preface

One can’t believe impossible things, Alice said. I daresay you haven’t had much practice, said the Queen. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Alice in Wonderland

People have been seeking answers to the questions Why am I here? and Why is this happening to me? since God allowed Satan to put his upright and blameless servant Job to the Biblical test.

If you’re like me and the thousands of clients who have come to me for intuitive healing, your life has been scarred by trauma. It could be from childhood abuse or neglect, illness, grief and loss, going to war, a financial reversal—the list is nearly endless. My journeys through survival of a traumatic life-threatening birth, childhood trauma, depression, divorce, life-threatening illness, betrayals and abandonment by people I loved and trusted and various terrifying brushes with death, have tested my faith and stretched my resilience beyond what I ever thought possible.

The emotional, spiritual and/or physical suffering that visits each of us eventually leads either to despair and addiction or to the search for self, healing, meaning, empowerment, forgiveness of self and others and a renewal of faith and connection to God. At a particularly frightening point in my own journey, when life collapsed around me in the space of about two weeks at age 43, I found myself alone on my knees, depressed, scared and crying out to God as human beings have since the dawn of humanity: What is going on? Why are You doing this to me?

I received an answer--lots of answers. They came to me as channeled reports from the spiritual front dictated by my angelic assistants nearly every evening between 1999 and 2000. I’ve combined these messages with stories of trauma, struggle, pain and finally healing of my clients as well as myself. As the last grains of sand slipped through the millennium hourglass, I wondered why I had been chosen to receive these messages of timeless wisdom, practical strategies for living and shoot-from-the-hip spiritual truth.

I didn’t know it at the time but I was about to enter a period of spiritual depression followed by the growth and renewal St. John of the Cross called the Dark Night of the Soul.

Navigating the Dark Night Without a Compass

When we enter the Dark Night, we’re forced to confront what we’ve always believed or how we’ve always behaved (If I take care of others they’ll take care of me…) but which no longer serves us and then discard that like a coat that no longer fits. Along the way we endure a painful pruning process that, like trimming branches in a fruit tree, yields a more bountiful harvest.

When life drives you to your knees in a spiritual, emotional and sometimes physical metamorphosis, among your choices are alcohol, drugs, suicide or faith. As soon as I gave up fighting, released my desperate grip on my old life and shifted from fear to trust, miracles began to happen. God threw me a faith lifeline and everything changed. Fear faded as doors opened, provisions and supportive people appeared and spiritual gifts emerged.

If you’ve lost your compass in the spiritual wilderness like I did, you’ll have to look up to access your backup navigation system. Teachers, healers and talking heads on TV come and go but God is like the North Star. The loving, creative energy that is God doesn’t have a gender, but for clarity I’ll use He. God is permanently accessible 24/7 and His guidance is accurate no matter where you are and where you come from. Universal truth (do not murder, do not steal, treat others as you want to be treated) can be found in any sacred text. Universal truth is a lot like gravity; it’s one-size-fits-all and applies everywhere equally whether you decide to believe in it or not.

Spiritual Compass is a joint effort, co-produced by the Holy Spirit. This collection of spiritual essays covering Life 101 is rich with wisdom, guidance, encouragement and support for living a full life at the intersection of body, mind and spirit. They have comforted, intrigued and guided me and my clients to stare down our worst fears. I hope they will do the same for you.

Even in the midst of my darkest moments, if I was still and listened, I could sense the gentle presence of spiritual support. Perhaps like you, I’ve pondered the concepts of universal spiritual truth vs. man-made religious doctrine and dogma. I was raised Catholic. Through my youth and into my 30s, I was indoctrinated more about sin, punishment, hell, penance and the man-made rules and regulations of various denominations than the loving, eternally forgiving nature of God. In my 30s I embraced the born-again Evangelical Christian movement for several years. In my 40s, as Spirit spoke to me through direct guidance, prayer, dreams and these channelings, the narrow interpretation of Biblical truth and the controlling nature common to the doctrines preached in so many conservative churches just didn’t fit anymore. I commenced a search for a direct spiritual connection that would embrace my expanding consciousness and met a lot of fellow dropouts from other mainstream religions at Unity, Unitarian Universalist, Religious Science and other non-denominational gatherings.

I respect all religions (other than Satanism and any form of black magic or evil that has been repackaged as a religion) and view all names of God as paths to the same divine Source. I consider anything negative that is done or said in the name of God that harms, enslaves or otherwise attempts to control another human being to be a manifestation of evil. Communion with God is a state of being. It is a knowingness much like being connected to an electrical circuit that is always on. Jesus said as much in his gospels about seeking God’s face and His will for our lives.

Now that I’ve spoken directly to Spirit and Spirit has spoken back quite eloquently, there’s no doubt in my mind that spiritual laws are universal. They’re dependable, logical, they function everywhere for everyone regardless of belief and they always work. In fact, they’re so dependable that it’s useless to try to ignore them or work around them. A law that everyone has experienced is the law of cause and effect, also known as what you sow, you shall also reap, what goes around comes around and the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Spiritual laws (aka natural laws) transcend race, gender, age, nationality, culture, politics, religion and borders. If you’re on this planet, these laws apply to you and the sooner you understand them and begin to work within them, the easier and more prosperous your life will become.

This book will not guarantee delivery of the love of your life, wealth, power, health and a beach house but it will save you from a lot of suffering if you decide to apply the universal wisdom in these channeled messages, which I continue to receive to this day. However, if you find yourself in the middle of your own Dark Night, allow the wisdom, comfort and practical strategies in these pages to illuminate your path and deepen your faith as they have for me and my clients. I pray these writings inspire and empower those of you who seek healing and guidance to find it in the voice of God.

With Love,

Sue Hannibal

Vista, California

www.suehannibal.com

Part I

Appointment with Destiny

Introduction

When the other person is hurting, confused, troubled; anxious, alienated, terrified; or when he or she is doubtful of self-worth, uncertain as to identity, then understanding is called for. The gentle and sensitive companionship of an empathic stance provides illumination and healing. In such situations deep understanding is, I believe, the most precious gift one can give to another.

Psychologist Carl Rogers

A channeled message: August, 2004

Dear Susan,

We are here for you as always. You ask us for guidance and we are glad to give it to you and to support you as you go through this transition. The questions are not as important as the answers, and we will assist you in finding the answers that you seek for your own growth, happiness and health.

First you are wondering about why this awakening is happening at this time. You are being prepared to take on even greater responsibilities and duties in the Holy realms. The time has come for you to step up to the plate, as you are fond of saying, and grapple with issues that have bothered you all your life. This old baggage slows you down, makes you sad, takes your energy and attracts people who are not in a high vibration. You have important work to do and so this healing must take place at this time to purify your intentions and get you back on the center track of Spirit. Your fears are groundless. You are divinely provided for and cared for. This time of rest, introspection and rebirth is necessary and you will benefit greatly from it. This clearing will move your work to a higher level and will be reflected in your upcoming book on healing. That book needs to be of a high spiritual vibration, to carry the weight of the truth it is to convey to the masses. People will literally be healed by this book. It will validate for the first time for some that the journey of pain, deprivation and loneliness that so many people live inside every day can end in healing.

After 16 years of private practice treating trauma and doing medical intuitive readings and channeling spiritual guidance for myself and thousands of clients, I’m offering the same spiritual compass that has guided us to guide you. A compass is a guide and a navigation tool. It doesn’t take you where you want to go; it shows you the direction you need to go to get there yourself. This book doesn’t tell you what to do or how to get there. Rather, it’s a guidebook of spiritual wisdom and universal truths that will help you decide for yourself what to do and how to get there on your own. As with any journey, how you get there, which path you take and how long and arduous is the trip is up to you.

As we tread water in a sea of terrorism, violence and racial hatred, some people turn to faith for guidance and others blame God for the darkness in the heart of humanity.

Fortunately, there are people everywhere who care about others; they lift cars off trapped pedestrians, back up a police officer fighting a suspect or catch children thrown from a burning building. For every predatory criminal, there are dozens of openhearted people who work with the homeless, at-risk youth, the elderly, prison inmates and abandoned animals.

In this book I’ve combined the menu of channeled guidance on a variety of topics with which we all struggle with practical wisdom and practical strategies for personal navigation in an increasingly scary, uncertain world. I intend for this shoot-from the-hip collection to have universal appeal no matter your religion, culture, age, gender or any other demographic. The fact is, when you’re about to set off on a life-changing journey, you need a map and a good set of directions—and if you’re lost in the physical, emotional or spiritual wilderness, you’ll need a compass.

In case you can’t find your inner GPS right now and you’re feeling abandoned, depressed and scared, you can borrow mine. Suffering is not something a healthy person intentionally cultivates but it’s frequently a necessary component of spiritual maturation. Entering (or being forced into) a classic Dark Night spiritual crisis usually brings depression, self-assessment, accountability, awakening and then ascension. Author Caroline Myss, one of my favorite spiritual teachers and a medical intuitive herself, calls the Dark Night experience spiritual madness. I agree.

Chapter One: Nowhere to Look but Up

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tightly closed in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.

~ Anais Nin

As I entered my 40s, I didn’t know that the visionary and intuitive abilities I’d brushed aside for years were about to be expanded, refined and tested. It was apparently time for my life purpose to be fulfilled. I never meant to become a healer but apparently God had a different idea. In the space of about two weeks in the summer of 1997, I found myself yanked out of a sixteen year marriage, my home, job and life as I knew it. When the dreadful spinning stopped briefly, I found myself face to face with my biggest fear - the fear of being alone, which I later learned was rooted in the survival level fear of abandonment. Like a whirlpool in a deep river, I was being helplessly drawn into the classic Dark Night of the Soul spiritual crisis that would put me on a collision course with my spiritual destiny.

For years I pretended my second marriage was happy because if I admitted, even to myself, how miserable I really was, I might actually have to do something about it. The wounded child inside me wanted to continue living in the illusion that she was safe and being taken care of. The reality was I was taking care of myself, my emotionally abusive husband, publishing and editing a national newsletter, writing a column for a national magazine, helping to run a business plus handling the majority of the tasks of daily living. The unrelenting stress of juggling two lives was siphoning the life right out of me.

Garden-variety selfishness in a spouse is merely irritating. Living with a narcissist is dangerous to a partner’s health. About a month after I left him, Jake called to inform me that he’d had a talk with God and knew why our marriage was in trouble. I said, Really. I can’t wait to hear what God had to say. In typical narcissistic fashion he announced, If only you’d stop complaining everything would be fine.

Even after that revealing but not unusual exchange, I was still terrified to be on my own. The daily bouts