Spiritual background
From childhood, Shulamith had paranormal perception. She heard a voice that guided her through rough times. What felt to her like spiritual experiences didn’t fit into the religion in which she grew up. In her 20s she tried a sincere practice of several other religions and spiritual traditions, searching for what seemed like the God she knew. She had no success, and eventually lost faith in God’s existence.
In her early 30s she had the first of what became periodic mystical experiences. These convinced her of God’s reality and presence and, eventually, of God’s love for her and responsiveness to prayers.
In 1995, Shulamith recognized that God was the focus of her life. She was ordained as a minister in a non-traditional, interfaith congregation. Eventually there was a schism in the mother church and the community fractured. Looking again for companions on her journey, she discovered the Religious Society of Friends, known as Quakers.
Quakers can come from any religious background or from none at all. They unite around the idea that “there is that of God in everyone” and their task is to relate to each other on that basis. There are many kinds of Quakers. Shulamith favors “unprogrammed” Quaker Meetings (congregations). This means there is no person designated as clergy or spiritual leader of the congregation; everyone has the responsibility to minister to each other. There is no pre‐planned program for worship; it is based on waiting in silence for a message from the Divine to come through one or more of the people present.
This information about Friends is given to help you feel at ease. Shulamith is an interfaith spiritual director. Therefore, she will not seek to convert her clients to Quakerism, nor does she think it is better or more “right” than other spiritual paths. It is right for her, but she does not assume that it will be right for you.
Spiritual direction education
In 1995, Shulamith received a Masters of Divinity from Almeda University based upon her lifelong studies and experience.* For her thesis, she submitted her first book, Finding God: Prayers & Spiritual Practices from Many Traditions. From the time of her early spiritual explorations, Shulamith had continued reading the spiritual literature of many religions, paths, and cultures, and that reading formed the foundation of this book.
Shulamith’s spiritual direction training consisted first of what she learned in her former career in healthcare: she had seen clients having spiritual crises because of their own or a family member’s life-threatening illness. She saw what either helped them make it through, or helped them find their way back to God later.
To round out her knowledge, she undertook private study under the guidance of several people from diverse religious backgrounds who had many years of experience as spiritual directors and chaplains. She became certified as a hospice volunteer. In addition, she studied many techniques for deepening one’s connection to the Divine. In 2019–2020, she participated in the inaugural 13-month “Participating in God’s Power” course from The School of the Spirit (Quaker). This course focused on finding where one was blocked from fully connecting with God, then finding out why, and then releasing those blocks.
Shulamith is a member of the Quaker Spiritual Directors group, Spiritual Directors International, and a peer support group.
* At that time, Shulamith did extensive research about online degrees, and Almeda had a very good reputation. However, at some time after 2011, Almeda was acquired by another institution, and the university lost all credibility. As of 2017, it no longer existed.
