About


A Little Bit About Me

© Copyright 2007 Sheryl Karas

What do I say? What would someone like you want to know? And why? Well, someday I’ll finish the three spiritually-oriented books I’m working on and when they come out I’ll probably want people to know how I got to a place of being able to write them.... but that would be a book in itself. Sigh. Consider this “About Me” piece a work in progress.

I grew up in New England and once lived—or tried very hard to live—a very conventional life. But when you have an artist’s eye and a growing spiritual sensitivity it’s impossible to stay conventional at all for very long.

It started out reasonably enough. I have a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Psychology and Women's Studies from Simmons College, Boston. My first job out of college was working as a freelance journalist—an overwhelming way to try to make a living when you’re new at it and trying to pay the rent. I didn’t last long in the field but that is when I first started the research for The Solstice Evergreen. I thought writing about the pagan origin of the Christmas Tree would be a fast and easy way to get a story out for Christmas. Ha! It took seven years to write and became a full length book.

I then spent 20 years working as a graphic designer, mostly self-employed, with a specialty in book cover art and book design. I worked part of this time at a small book publishing company called Crossing Press. They specialized in alternative health and New Age titles—all new to me at the time—and I read every book I laid my hands on.

During this period of my life I also became a teacher and leader in the Re-Evaluation Counseling community, an organization dedicated to teaching people basic listening and empowerment skills. I taught classes and workshops, led support groups, and eventually became authorized to certify new teachers and supervise their growth and development. I'm no longer a member of that organization but the experience did lead me to seek a graduate degree in psychology when my graphics work stopped being fulfilling. And it became the foundation for my second book Changing the World One Relationship at a Time.

Then came a major career change. I went back to school, got a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, divorced amicably but traumatically from my dear husband of 20 years, and had an uncontrolled spiritual opening that completely changed my life. The genie had popped out of the bottle—I woke up to the full potential of who I am—and there was no going back.

Oh, I certainly tried! I worked as program coordinator and support group leader for the Alzheimer's Association and then as a Family Caregiving Consultant and newsletter editor for Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center, a state-supported program run by a nonprofit called Health Projects Center in Santa Cruz, CA. (Those newsletters are now available in The Spiritual Journey of Family Caregiving.) But in my off hours I was also pursuing training in Medical Intuition and various forms of energy healing, became a Flower Essence practitioner and Reiki Master.

Today I spend most of my time building a career as a spiritual counselor and healer with my partner Paul Hood, running a tiny home-based flower essence perfume business, and trying to find time to finish the books and tarot deck I’ve been working on for many years. Flower essence therapy is forming the framework for three of these projects. The tarot deck is based on flower essence therapy and is planned to be a tool in using this modality more effectively.

I live in Santa Cruz, CA. Today as I write this it is February, the sun is shining and I’m looking forward to eating breakfast on my porch. I’ve come a long strange way from my far more conventional way of life in New England. And I’m starting, more and more, to enjoy the ride.


By the way, I have a blog where I share my thoughts and discoveries on the healer’s path. Feel free to stop on by.






. . . Sheryl Karas