Hi, my name is Akeel O’Connor and I grew up in a traditionally strict Christian household. I was taught beautiful things about God and spirituality—but I was also, like many of you, taught harmful and disempowering beliefs that caused me deep confusion because what I was being told didn’t match what my spirit was telling me.

From a young age, I could feel things that others couldn’t. I was born with many spiritual gifts—claircognizance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and an uncanny ability to see into the spiritual realms. I could feel the power running through the earth. I could hear the voice of water calling to me. I could sense the whispers of my ancestors. I could feel God in everything.But I was told this was evil. That these experiences were wrong. That the only way to connect with God was through the church—by submitting my life to the way the church deemed acceptable.

My inner knowing and my gifts were so strong that I lived in constant sense of shame, fear and confusion—wanting to do what I was told by people I loved and respected, wanting to make them proud… but also hearing the undeniable voice of my intuition saying:
This is not the truth. This is not where you're meant to be. This is not who you are.

So I followed my intuition.

And I’m so glad I did—because the world that opened up to me blew my mind and was beyond anything I had ever felt inside those church walls. My connection to God deepened—wild, intimate, raw, and real. No middleman. No fear. No shame. Just me, Spirit, and the sacred elements that were always calling me home.

Your words. Your breath. The fire. The water. The earth beneath your feet.
These are your bridges to the Divine.

And now—I help other women remember this truth, too.