An Interview with Francine Marie-Sheppard
Director of The
By Jacek Zimnicka, Poland
Your profession as a clairvoyant teacher and professional clairvoyant is not very common and for many quite controversial.
For me it is not controversial at all, it is simply part of who I am. Once people realize that their extra-sensory abilities are part of who they are, they see the whole world differently. We have been taught, and you can even say programmed, that these senses and perceptions are to be buried and blocked from birth. When you uncover more of your own sensitivity and allow yourself to connect and be conscious of what you are already perceiving instead of being in a state of denial or fear or shame about it, you can connect with a part of yourself that you closed off many years ago. That part of you is: you the eternal spirit. This journey of spiritual self-exploration is a very empowering process where you discover your ability to discern what is truth for yourself.
How do people react when they learn you are a clairvoyant?
Many people react with apprehension when I tell them what I do. They are afraid that I will see something about them that they are ashamed off or in guilt about. Shame and guilt are used to control us as we grow up and learn what is acceptable behavior. I don’t agree with these socialization techniques nor the use of shame or guilt for social control.
Apart from shame or guilt, it’s quite a natural reaction to protect one’s privacy. Most of us wouldn’t like to have our minds scanned by a psychic.
I certainly do not go looking at people’s auras without their permission, just as you do not enter a stranger’s house without their permission. But when I am asked to look at people’s auras, sometimes it is difficult to focus on the problems because there is so much that is wonderful. People do not realize that I am always talking to their spirit beyond the body, that creator being standing there, showing me their light and their enthusiasm for life.
So a person whose mind is full of problems and tensions, whose acts may even be harmful, can be a beautiful spirit at the same time?
People today live a split life, immersed in the material world, cut off from their spirit or being. They are caught up in so many things and believe that they are their problems, whereas, as the saying goes, they are a spiritual being having a human experience and sometimes that journey is fraught with challenges. But that doesn’t mean that you ARE your problem. Your problem is your experience, not who you are, and it is a tiny part of your spiritual life.
If clairvoyants can see our lives from a spiritual perspective and may help us understand our true identity, why are so many people resentful or distrustful towards them?
Just like any other profession, the psychic profession has people who are not properly trained, or have no ethics or no boundaries. A certain amount of skill can be used to manipulate someone and I too have heard stories about such unethical psychics. But you would not have surgery without being assured that your doctor has the proper qualifications. Yet, some people here in the
Well, if I met someone who would know personal things about me he or she has no way of knowing, it could also make me trust that this person knows better than I how to handle my life. Especially if I had problems with handling it myself.
Just because a psychic will pick up on some things accurately it does not mean they are right about everything and you should hand over your bank account. People become ashamed of themselves when they have this experience and don’t tell people because they are programmed that seeking this kind of help is wrong. What is wrong is giving secrets power by being ashamed or guilty. Your experience can be a blessing in helping your grow and learn and heal.
Do you mean we should share with others cases when we seek help of psychics or use this power ourselves?
The more people discuss what they are really experiencing, what they really know, the more we will understand why we have been socially conditioned to fear things like clairvoyance. When we are no longer afraid and ignorant of our own power we will no longer tolerate those who abuse others with their power. If we all were more tuned in to our own intuition, we would have less need to rely on other people to tell us what to do, and more ability to spot the truth from the lie. Of course, then world would change radically as we wouldn’t believe the politicians anymore either….
Developed intuition can also let us sense future events, at least to some extent. By the way, is there any difference between a clairvoyant and a fortune teller?
Yes, please don’t put me in the same category, ha ha. A fortune teller, in my opinion, is on the edge of that ethical line if they tell people that what they are foretelling is the one and only Truth, and that what they say is their client’s destiny.
Do you mean to say that future can’t be foretold?
The future is being created every day. It is not already written or set in stone. When I look at this vague idea called the future, I look at what that person wants to create in their life and how their present actions are building towards those creations or destroying them. The answer is always in the now, as in what you are doing right now that is going to create the life you want or not. Also I look at the experiences that spirit is trying to create in their life journey and how it is manifesting, and this can include, health and wellness, family, relationships, careers, etc. In any case, a good fortune teller has some psychic skill, a fraudulent one just tells you what you want to hear, for a price. A clairvoyant is just some one who can see energy. What they do with that skill, what their specialty is can vary.
And what is your psychic specialty?
My area of interest is teaching people, empowering them to find their own connection with their spirit and from there their own truth and creative capability. You have the clairvoyant ability buried in your third eye, or sixth chakra, behind your forehead. It is active enough, but you are not conscious of what you are already seeing. The information may go straight to your “higher self” and in the body you may stumble around through life, not knowing what you know. It sounds funny, but you would be surprised how capable you already are. Whether your clairvoyance just lays there, unrealized, is really up to you. It is a brave but worthwhile journey. What if you could see God for yourself? You would never have to spend money on a fortune teller again!
If everyone already has the clairvoyant ability, is it possible for everyone to learn to use it consciously?
You were born free, you are already light. You have forgotten who you are, become disconnected or shamed or merely interested in experiencing other things. There is nothing wrong with you. Whether you choose clairvoyance or a Guru or trekking across Antartica as your voyage to self-discovery or spiritual journey, it does not matter. All paths lead eventually to the same place, and all paths are equal. I can train any willing and committed person to do a clairvoyant reading in a matter of weeks.
As for myself, I’m not sure if I want to learn it because I don’t know what I’d do with such a gift. But if I made up my mind, would it be easy?
The true purpose to learn clairvoyance is not necessarily or exclusively to become a professional reader for others but to learn about yourself and to heal yourself. It is a voyage of discovery and growth. In terms of seeing energy clairvoyantly, to some it will come easily, others will have to learn to relax a little more and find their sense of humor because perhaps they have forgotten the spirit of play, the spirit of discovery and exploration.
And how was it in your case? Did it take you long to learn it?
I was born a bit “different”, already open to clairvoyance. I did not realize at first that I was experiencing the world in a “different” way, but I caught on and learned to live a double life, trying to be “normal” but having my own energetic experience that I kept quiet about. Eventually, I realized “normal” was not possible for me, and freed myself to just be me. I have always been a teacher of one thing or the other so after nearly four years of training, I naturally began to teach the clairvoyant path, and by doing that I also reach out to others across the world who are like me, or who would enjoy learning these techniques.
What happens after one starts learning clairvoyance?
Soon a student begins to have experiences that they describe as mind-blowing, which means, really that the mind cannot find an explanation, and their consciousness of the universe, of energy, has expanded. To have doubts about everything in the beginning of classes, sometimes for a long time, is normal. Sooner or later you are too busy on this fascinating journey to listen much to the mind and it’s petty chatter, to mind your doubts. The mind no longer dominates the experience, your spirit is in charge. This is all part of the planetary shift to a life where the rational mind is merely a partner, one aspect of you, and no longer the authoritarian boss.
In movies we sometimes see clairvoyants seeing horrible things happening, like committed crimes or disasters to happen. Is seeing beyond the five senses always a gift or can it be a curse too?
I think movies and television do a disservice to society by always showing these stereotypes. They play into peoples’ fears and give them an adrenaline rush so they think they have experienced something. An adrenaline rush gives you a chemical release which makes you feel good. If you are addicted to this type of entertainment, know that you are being manipulated to stay in a state of fear of “the unknown” where there are “monsters” who are stronger than you. You are being lied to and it is the opposite of empowerment.
I asked this question because I think using the third eye could make me see things I didn’t want to see.
As you become adept at using your clairvoyance and other abilities you learn to control them and have a choice about what you look at or experience. I am not interested in looking at crime scenes or disasters. I never see horror shows or anything excessively violent. I turn it off, as in I boycott it. I do not have that morbid curiosity. If I see someone or a being who needs help, I might help them. I live two blocks from a cemetery right now, and I have only seen one ghost, it was not scary, I just sent him on his way, gave him a little direction, and he left. A clairvoyant can help a person find closure after a terrible event or speak to someone who has passed over, and you can have choice what you observe and engage in and not deal with that type of work at all.
Are you not afraid that ghosts or some disembodied spirits can harm you in some way?
A sick spirit does not have the power to harm you unless you give away your power. Most of the entities out there that try to influence people negatively do not want to be seen by a clairvoyant because they might not be able to continue their games, they have, as the saying goes, been busted. Also, I am not interested in engaging in the conflicts those types of beings are interested in so I do not go into resistance. I turn away, and turn my light and the light of my attention to the beings, people, things that I want to encourage and validate. Or, if an angry being tries to affect me I am more likely to try to give it a healing—sometimes this makes them run even faster!
So what are threats or dangers involved in learning or using clairvoyance?
I can’t think of any. I do not know any clairvoyants who are totally victimized by their ability, forced to look at “horrible things”. If I do meet one, I will try to help them, because they are suffering unnecessarily and this can be changed. There are always people who are threatened by clairvoyance. What if everyone in the world was empowered to tell the truth from the lie? There would be very few manipulative games left to play, and the world would be a completely different place. So, the only danger is that if you are not diplomatic and become egotistical about your ability, you may lose a few friends. Or you many choose to end a few relationships over the course of your life. But new, more genuine friends will take their place.
When doing a reading, how can one tell images of one's own imagination from contents of somebody else's mind?
In the beginning of training, for a while, one is not sure what to do, what to say. There is a period of uncertainty. The only cure for this is more experience. To practice reading as much as possible. Read auras instead of books! Slowly the mind becomes less dominant, the fear and concerns subside, and you are more in the flow. This is a typical question that is answered by experience. You learn that you see what you see, and the only thing in doubt is your interpretation of it. The mind wants to interject its opinions and theories, but you learn to quiet the mind and observe and eventually “download” your own information about what you are seeing. It is no longer a matter of your imagination—after all what exactly is that? There is only one way to answer your question for yourself, to learn the techniques and just start doing readings, learn through experience.
What kind of issues do your clients usually ask you to help with?
I am open to everything, and hopefully, in judgment of nothing. The questions vary so much. Everything you can think of. I have seen many things people would consider crazy, or extraordinary and bizarre, but it’s a big universe and there are many fascinating things going on in it. I hope I build a trust with people so they feel safe to ask anything. I hope to create a space where they can safely let go and heal.
In what ways can a reading help a person seeking advice?
A reading can help bring clarity to any situation. Some people don’t even know what they are looking for and I help them clarify their search. I do not direct them what to do though, but help them get achieve clarity so they feel more confident and making their decisions.
People often find decision making difficult, especially when it comes to life issues. Human mind can produce so many pros and cons towards any idea, and life seems so unpredictable. Can you see which option is best for your client?
It is not my place to decide for them what to do with their life. That is my ethical boundary. Together we can look at what will help them create the changes they want in their life. There is sometimes tremendous pressure and demand for me to just take responsibility for their life and give them a list of things to do. But this is not empowering for the client. You are the artist in creating your life, I can advise you on methods but cannot tell you what to create. Sometimes I make suggestions, I talk about what their spirit is showing me, the direction their spirit would like to go. I do see very specific things for them, but I am careful not to program them so that they just wait for things to happen instead of being the creative force for their own life. For me, when I get a reading, I use it as a tool to clarify my choices, and bring to light issues I wasn’t aware of or ideas I hadn’t considered.
Being a creative force in one’s life seems to be a key idea of the New Age movement. But many of us experience recurring life patterns, huge obstacles, personal dramas, and wonder if we really have free will. Maybe everything is already planned and you can't change your destiny?
We have been taught to forget our free will, a wonderful gift on this earth plane. Free will is about the ability to change and transmute any choice and energy. Used consciously it has infinite potential. We are just unlocking this gift as we are just beginning to understand it, yet there are examples of it around us every day. We are still struggling to understand the true power of forgiveness as well.
So, for now, no, everything is not already planned and anyone who tells you this is lying. That is another piece of dogma that has been floating around disguised as truth to put people in fear or control them. Just ask Jesus or Buddha or any other great teacher. Yes, there are some patterns and there are the repercussions of karma or universal laws but if we truly engaged our free will and the power of forgiveness…again, a very different planet.
The idea of ‘pay’ or ‘karma’ means that you must experience consequences of your past acts and you can’t escape it.
People talk about that idea of karma as if it is some kind of punishment for your sins. But the great Indian mystics did not simplify this idea the way we see it tossed around today. It's interesting how that idea of a punishing universe has transferred down the ages from the idea of a punishing God. Karma does not automatically mean a burden, or a punishment, since we reap good karma all the time. Because we have been so programmed to fear, we don't see the positive or validating return of our actions coming back to us every day. We deny the miracles, the good news, in the false humility we have been told will save our souls. To view karma too simplistically is too create another rule in the mind to obey, to create fear and shame us or disempower us.
The concept of free will implies that your past or your life circumstances don’t matter, that you can be what you choose to be and create what you decide. Is human will really free of any limitations?
Free will does not imply that your past or your circumstances don't matter. Free will is anchored in the truth that all energy can be transmuted into something else. If everything is energy, as the physicist also tell us, everything is in the process of changing from one form into another or from form into energy or energy into form, or from one energy vibration to another energy vibration. Your past only exists as an energy, and, you can transmute that energy into another, different energy. You can heal your past, and pull your energy, your spirit, out of the past and into the present. Where is all your spiritual energy? Some of it is involved in or invested in games and stories of the past. It is more useful to have this energy with you now, in the present where you can create new miracles with it or heal yourself or do whatever you choose.
So ‘karma’ is connected with our energetic involvement in what happened and we must somehow take this energy back?
To the extent that your energy is involved or still resolving issues in the past, either by you clinging to it because is has become your identity, or because you are still hurting, in pain, that is people call your karma. When you have these unresolved energies around you, they attract electro-magnetically similar vibrations like velcro or a magnet. Similarly, when you have left your energy in other places or around other people, you must encounter these people or places to collect this energy. Good or bad energy, it doesn't matter, we don't need to judge it. You could say that your energy eventually finds it's way back to you. Self-healing is also an exploration of what is in your space and aura that does not resonate at your truth, your vibration or needs to be resolved or transmuted.
How can one apply one’s free will to dealing with karma?
When you explore your past and your ‘karma’ as a clairvoyant and then begin to heal yourself and transmute your pain energy into something else, you engage your free will.
Free will is the ability, the choice, the permission, the gift that we have that gives us the space to make a different choice. Free will is the space this universe gives us to change. It is infinite in it's scope and limited only by our minds, which have been conditioned to dominate our choices according to the limits and fears we have been socialized with.
And how to deal with the past to get it healed?
When you act as a detective in your own healing, you can discover where some of your choices have led you to the present day or where you have lost your seniority to pain or lies and have fallen victim to programming. This is not something to be ashamed of. Rejoice instead that you are waking up to your creations and your ability to heal and change. You will not make these discoveries from a place of judgement but from a place of neutrality. Neutrality, another powerful vibration, is found in the sixth chakra which can generate that vibration. Much of your spiritual information about neutrality can be found there. And of course, the sixth chakra is home to the ability of clairvoyance.
To many people neutrality or forgiveness seem to be as difficult to achieve or apply as clairvoyance. You call them vibrations, which I understand as states of the mind or states of consciousness. Are there any special ways to learn them?
Clairvoyance, neutrality, forgiveness and awareness are the essence of the training in our
This looks like a common goal of many spiritual teachings.
The Clairvoyant Path training is just one path. I try to encourage people to seek their own way and if clairvoyant training is helpful to them, that's great. If through engaging their free will they have found a different way, that's great too, isn't it?
You've recently visited
Instytut Wiedzy Waleologicznej hosted us because they recently published Debra’s book. I co-teach with Debra a few times a year. We have fun teaching together. The type of teaching we do on international retreats can be very intense and it’s good to team teach. We looked at
Have you noticed any difference in how the lectures and workshops went in
I was very happy with the way the workshops went. I so enjoyed watching people change over the course of a few days. Some women in particular changed their energy, their wellness so much. I wish I had taken photos of them before so we could a comparison with a photo at the end. Extraordinary change. I feel such gratitude to witness these types of things. This happens every time when people are being validated in their being and reconnecting with their spirit. The Polish people in particular I found to be very warm, friendly and generous. As the weekend progressed they became more open and they astonished us with their warmth and generosity. I was happy they understood my jokes because I like to laugh to relieve the tension that grows when making changes. We were extremely fortunate to have had great interpreters, all of them, who rose to the occasion and went beyond the call of duty. Often, Americans I think take the bounty of what they have available to them for granted, but in general I think when people free themselves in any way, they feel joy and this is a universal emotion common to us all. But generally I find more similarities between workshop participants across continents than differences. I feel very grateful for my experience in
Many of the workshops participants were very excited to learn with you and Debra. Many other people in
Certainly. At the
