Jacquelyn Small: Well, I grew up in Corpus Christie, Texas and was a very normal Southern Belle,

(laughter from the three of us)

and there was nothing very amazing about me. I was sweet and pretty and always got elected most popular in school, and things like that. I was really just a normal person. And then, when I was 28 years old, I had a clinical near death experience. I died in the hospital. I had had 3 miscarriages in a row, and I was hemorrhaging to death.



The Meta Arts: That could have been your Saturn Return

Jacquelyn Small: Well, I have a feeling it was. It was really, really serious. I did eventually have my 3rd child, but from age 28 to 30, I was very ill.

But, what happened was, that while I was out of body, I had an experience that changed my life, And it changed the way I saw life. I was never the same after that. I was actually out of my body and saw myself lying on the hospital bed and spoke to myself- in the same voice that I speak to you now, but I was saying things like "You do not want to back into that body, do you? That body has had it."

It was like I was making an assessment that was not emotional. And then what happened next, was that my consciousness shifted towards my son, Brett, who was 8 years old at the time, and had been a diabetic since the age of two. And so. when I thought about Brett, I actually became him, and I was being told that my mother had died. I then felt the pain of his heart in my heart. What happened then, I don't really know.

The next thing I knew, I was awake in the hospital. The doctor was there and the room was full of nurses. But I know that when I went out, no one was there with me. So, I don't know how long that took- if it was a few minutes- or a few seconds, or what. But I came back knowing that we are bigger than what we look like, and that if we are really going to understand ourselves- psychologically , emotionally and relationally, we have got to study the sacred arts, and learn about our bigger picture- about how our souls goes through time, rather than just getting all caught up in personality issues.



The Meta Arts: Did you know there was such a thing as the sacred arts before you had this experience, or not?

Jacquelyn Small: No, I really did not. I was a Christian girl, I went to church, was an Episcopalian. But there was something deep inside of me that was longing and I had no words for.



The Meta Arts: When you came back, you just knew what it was then?

Jacquelyn Small: When I came back, I just knew, that we are souls going through time. That we are not really personality -egos. I could not talk to anyone about this experience because what also happened during this time, is that I had a visitation from a being. He showed up in my hospital wall, looking like he was in a hole in the wall. I did not know then who he was, but I now know, I was spoken to by one of the masters who guides my work. I did not know then- I just thought it was Jesus, because I believed it was the only thing bigger than we are.

(laughter)



The Meta Arts:

The Meta Arts: Was this during your Near death Experience, or after?

Jacquelyn Small: No, this was the day after the Near Death Experience. And so, when I saw this being, he spoke to me. he said, and I can still hear the words in my mind, "Be patient, your time will come and you will be guided." He was letting me know I was here for a purpose and I would be guided.

Well, I want you to know, it was another 11 years before I had another metaphysical experience. I can't say that I came out of that hospital enlightened. All I can say, is that something inside of me changed, and that from point forward, after I had studied psychology, clinical social work, and did all the training I did, I got to work with a lot of the consciousness researchers. And during all of that training and study, I began to put it all together in my mind that there was something bigger going on.



The Meta Arts: Was it the experience that guided you towards psychology, or had you studied it previously?

Jacquelyn Small: The experience guided me towards psychology. But then, as you both probably realize, I was pretty disillusioned by the way they teach psychology in the regular colleges. But, what did happen, I was invited to join a group, here in Austin, called The 5th Ray Group, and I had no idea what this meant at the time.

(laughter)

I found out later they were part of what was called "The Builders of the Adytum," which is one of the Mystery Schools I'll mention later. You'll often see that written as BOTA. I was taught by two teachers, for about 5 years, Tarot, Numerology, Sacred Geometry, and the other teacher tried to teach me Esoteric Astrology, but I couldn't quite get it.

(laughter)

So, that is the part I am the weakest in, although I understand it philosophically. And I love it- I love it, and I do get readings done a couple times a year, or when things get weird. But I do not know how to do charts



The Meta Arts: A lot of times when a person has a Near Death Experience, a lot of people have experienced a strong desire to go on and pass into the other side, but that someone appears to them and tells them, it is not time yet-your work is not finished yet, you have to go back.

Jacquelyn Small: Mine occurred the day after. I often think it was a part of me that never had completely incarnated. There was a part of me that did not want to be here. And I think that was the shift that happened.

During the time I was studying with the teacher of the Adytum, I was asked to take part in a ceremony and become initiated into training for another group- The Order of the Golden Dawn. I was involved in 2 different Western Mystery Schools, during the 70's and 80's that taught me a lot about the Sacred Arts.

This all started to synthesize for me when my Tarot teacher died. She had passed along a lot to me and told me that I needed to teach Tarot. So, I decided to start a Mystery School. By that time, I had become very acquainted with the teachings of Alice Bailey, and the Western Mystery traditions.

The lineage of the Western Mystery tradition traces back to Atlantis- or Eden, if you are more Christian, or Ancient Sumeria. Some people even trace it back to a group called the Hyperboreans. They lived in the Arctic and I am not sure they were real people. I do not see that group mentioned very often. But we all turn out to be Rosecrucians, Free Masons, into Theosophy. Or, Gnostics, Christian Mystics, Zoroastrians, Rudolf Steiner's work- Anthroposophy, The Jewish Essences, The Jewish Kabbalists, the Native Traditions, The Celtic- these are all part of the Western Mystery Tradition. These are all part of the ancient teachings. This is all so incredibly rich- and I think it is the true history of the world.

This is the ancient wisdom that gets activated and reapplied, in every age, during very bad times, as a pathway back to G_D. It is beyond what science knows. It runs so deep and is really the story of the soul, traveling through time in a human body. It is the only way that can build a bridge into the future. The old way dies when it hits one of the snags- like the current times of great uncertainty. If you notice- nothing is working anymore. Our educational and political system- even marriages, are not working. The only way to change it to go inward. It forces us to realize that G-D lives within us, that wisdom lives within us- our own souls know the way forward.



The Meta Arts: Why do you think they call it "Mystery" and why did they keep it from people, opposed to really getting it out there?

Jacquelyn Small: I'll tell you why I think so. I believe that when people started teaching this type of wisdom, it went so against the Romans and the Catholic Church, and other dogmatic Churches, that they murdered people to prevent this kind of wisdom.

There is a Mystery- an actual spiritual event, it is like a death and rebirth, and it creates a shift in our psyche. It motivates us to turn towards a new place. It is like when I had the NDE. Mystery Schools are a group of people who come back together again- like a soul family. The 3 of us have probably done this work together before.

The Mystery teaches that which we need to know- in order to be fruitful in your spiritual life. Without this deeper sense of wisdom, we get trapped in illusion. And when we get caught up in illusion, we get some G-D -awful lessons. We have to get it outwardly, because we did not get it inwardly.



The Meta Arts: So how did Eupsychia grow out of all this stuff you were doing?

Jacquelyn Small: Well, in 1976, I had a mystical experience with the work of Abraham Maslow, the father of Self-Actualization. One day, I was sitting at home, realizing I couldn't stand ordinary psychology. I thought it was boring, dull and I didn't think it could teach anybody anything.



The Meta Arts: At the time, were you a practicing Psychologist?

Jacquelyn Small: Yes, I was. But interestingly, I was getting referrals from other therapists who just couldn't deal with issues about G-D, or what is the meaning of life. They would call and say, "I've got this woman who I think has trouble with her husband, and all she wants to do is talk about G-D, and what is the meaning of life. I can't do anything with her. Would you please take her?"

(hysterical laughter from the 3 of us)

Well, you know that is one of my favorite kind of clients. I felt they were asking the real questions. So I was really out of sync with my world. Then, in 1976, Abraham Maslow came to me in a vision- and I do not mean that I saw him. It was that thing where I was being spoken to. He told me to create a company called Eupsychia Management.

In the 1950's, he had written a book called, "Eupsychia Management," which he intended for business, but it never went anywhere. He felt that business should create environments where people had well being. Eupsychia means "Well Being" in Greek. He wanted me, as well as others, to continue forward with his work. I was captivated by the term. So I founded the Eupsychia Institute, a non-profit organization. We train people in Soul-Based Psychology.



The Meta Arts: We see, as one of failings of traditional therapy, that the therapist does not deal with the whole person. If someone has a life-long string of failed relationships, and the therapist is not also looking at the issues of chakras and karma, the client will not always fully get it.

As Readers, we see and deal with this all the time. We often recommend clients to see a therapist, but we also get one a heck of a lot of people who have been in therapy 1 or 2 years, and are still miserable, and repeating their same patterns. When we do readings exploring their Karma- they seem to really get it and are able to tie things together. That "Ah-Ha!" moment occurs.


Jacquelyn Small: That is exactly right. In order to truly heal and grow, we have to honor the truth about ourselves. We are both an ego and a soul. We are both human and divine. The ego does have needs that must be met- otherwise we get crazy and act horrible to each other. However, just getting ego needs met is foolish. There is a deeper issue here that must be addressed.



The Meta Arts: In your work at Eupsychia Institute, are you teaching purely professionals, or can everyone attend?

Jacquelyn Small: We teach everyone, it is all kinds of people. We have a Healing/Training Program. And people can come just to be with us and hang out with us. But the ones who are in training have more responsibilities. They wind up working along side with us.



The Meta Arts: Do they get CEUs for the program?

Jacquelyn Small: Yes, they do- except for nurses and doctors. We could for them too, but we do not- for all the paperwork involved. However, if you are a MSP, LSW, Ph.D.. Psychologist, Body Worker, Substance Abuse Counselor- any of those things, you can get CEU with me. That is another whole part of me. I do CEU workshops too.

In more mainstream situations, we do not get into The Mystery School traditions in these programs- except in ordinary language. About 3-4 times a year, I do CEU workshops just for professionals, and they are done in strictly professional terminology, but I do use some of the principles. Out of maybe 80- 100 professionals who attend, there are always 3 or 4 who want to know more. They will just hang around me afterwards, they want to know if I know something they are looking for. And I believe that is what my work is-I am a bridge builder, like a Pied Piper who brings people forward.

-end-


The Meta Arts Magazine is honored to announce the start of Jacquelyn Small's new monthly column in this issue. This is a very special opportunity for spiritual nourishment, learning and personal growth.


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