In our Winter 2017/18 issue, we published an exclusive interview with the well-known angel author Doreen Virtue. In late 2017, she made a big announcement about her spiritual path, revealing that she had had a powerful experience with Jesus at the beginning of the year, and was formally baptised as a Christian shortly afterwards. We spoke to her about her animal rescue work, her spiritual journey, and Jesus’ message to the world.
Interviewer: Aisling Cronin
Doreen Virtue is a well-known author within the spiritual and self-help world. She has written a wide array of books and oracle card decks on topics such as angels, ascended masters, and assertiveness. She recently made a big announcement about her spiritual path, revealing that she had had a powerful experience with Jesus at the beginning of 2017, and was formally baptised as a Christian shortly afterwards. She now wishes to reorient her future work to reflect this shift in her perspective. We spoke to Doreen about her animal rescue work, her spiritual journey, and Jesus’ message to the world.
Firstly Doreen, thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview! I hear that you have some Irish heritage in your family.
My mom did our family ancestry a while back, and she found that we come from the Lyon family in County Cork. I’ve been to Ireland a few times, and I never got to go to Cork, for some reason, but my son and daughter-in-law lived on the west coast of Ireland for a while. Ireland is amazing – I have so many good memories of being there.
I have heard that you’re in the process of moving house right now. That must be a challenge, given the amount of animals you have! I’ve seen videos of your ranch in Hawaii, and all of the different animals you keep there: goats, sheep, cats, dogs…
It has been interesting! Our ranch had one house for my husband and I, one house for my parents, and a nice big barn, with fifty acres of land. My husband and I are both vegans, so we started rescuing animals who were going to slaughter, and we loved it, but we ended up with over three hundred animals. At one point, our food bill was $10,000 a month. In restrospect, we should have found loving homes for many of the animals right away. This would have made our rescue work more sustainable. So, lesson learned, for anyone else who might be interested in doing this: you don’t have to keep every single animal you take in.
There is a big vegan community in Hawaii, so our friends were willing to offer good homes to most of our animals – the rest of them are joining us on the U.S. mainland – but it has been difficult. You fall in love with every animal and saying goodbye is really hard.
Moving on to your experience with Jesus, can you tell us about that?
I have always loved Jesus and considered myself a Christian. I was actually in a Christian church when I met him. I wasn’t praying to meet Jesus – meeting him wasn’t even on my mind – but all of a sudden, during the announcements part of the church service, it was as though everything and everyone disappeared and all I could see was him. An amazing light came from his heart, but this light was not for me specifically. It was for everyone, and I just happened to be there. As soon as I saw him, I knew that he was so different to who I had previously thought he was. I had always thought of him as an ascended master like Buddha or Krishna. I honour every spiritual teacher, and I have reverence for every person’s path, but in that moment, I felt that Jesus really was the Son of God, and that he was sent to Earth to absorb the energy that is created by us getting off our true path. Some would call that energy sin, but I don’t like the word sin. I would prefer to say transgressions. After I met Jesus, I dove into the Bible and read it cover to cover, from Genesis onwards. From there, I learned that God really wants us to go directly to Him for guidance. Before that, whenever things would come up for me, I would go straight to my cards for guidance instead of talking to God, but now I go directly to Him. This is the path that God put me on. It was like Jesus scooped me up.
What is your understanding of the term ‘the Son of God’?
What I understood in that moment – and this was a very visceral understanding, as if my whole body and my whole being understood it – is that God is three parts: the Holy Spirit, the Son, and God. I knew that Jesus was absolutely one with God. It took my understanding of that to a level of knowingness, rather an intellectual curiosity, if that makes sense. Now, I have such reverence for the power of God. I think before my meeting with Jesus, I would say those words – ‘the power of God’ – but I wouldn’t actually feel the power of God. Now I do feel it, and it’s so beyond my comprehension, I can’t even describe it in words.
What is your advice to people who have books and cards that you previously wrote, and may be unsure of what to do with them now?
I get asked that question a lot, and honestly, I don’t know. There are a lot of things I used to do that I don’t have an answer for right now, so what I’ve done is put everything on hold, and I am waiting for God to guide me. People often ask me about things like reincarnation, astrology, oracle cards … and I know it’s frustrating to hear, but I don’t know. One thing I have been told by God is that when it comes to crystals, what matters is how you use them. If you want to celebrate the beauty of the crystals and enjoy them in your home or office, great! But if you are using them as idols or as a substitute for God, then that would not be a good thing to do.
Can you tell us about your latest book, Mornings with the Lord?
Mornings with the Lord was inspired by my habit of reading the Bible every single morning, before I go on social media or watch the news. What you do first thing in the morning sets the tone for the whole day. I am grateful that Hay House allowed me to create this morning book, for people to read just one little page a day and get on a positive path for that day, where they’re praying and surrendering and not worrying about it. I am so grateful to Hay House for how understanding they’ve been about my conversion. Reid Tracy, my publisher, is an amazing man and I am so blessed to work with him.
What do you feel is Jesus’ most important message to humanity at this time?
There are so many, but the one that comes to mind right now is ‘don’t worry’. Worrying is a decision to control things that we can’t control. Instead of worrying about everything, just pray. Before my encounter with Jesus, I was trying to create my own little universe that I ran. It is such a relief to say to God, ‘I can’t do this alone. Please help me.’
For many years, your work was based on raising awareness of angels. What is your perspective on angels now?
My connection to angels is so much deeper now than it was before I met Jesus. I get what I like to call ‘angel bumps’ just talking about them, because they are so holy and so sacred. The angels that God sends us are so loving and pure. They are messengers and comforters. That is what I’ve always taught, so nothing has changed in that sense. The only difference is that I used to try working with angels to predict the future, but now I don’t worry about the future. I don’t try to predict it.
You can listen to our full, unedited interview on SoundCloud – simply search for Positive Life Magazine to find us. For more information about Doreen, visit her website www.angeltherapy.com
