Modern-day Mysticism: Spirit Guide + Clairvoyant Aja Daashuur

“It’s a collective of female-identifying healers and artists who come together with the purpose of holding space in a non-judgmental forum with the intent of allowing each of us to get to know ourselves, our purpose and our inner magic on a deeper level.”

Some people have a destiny not to be trifled with. They seem to be so uniquely crafted for a particular calling, regardless of how many talents they possess. That is certainly true of our friend Aja Daashuur. When I first met her, she was focused on providing Life Coaching for women solely, yet her interests in mysticism were not at all cloaked. Only a few months after our friendship bloomed, Aja had been inducted into a level of healing and clairvoyance I suspect she couldn’t have even foreseen, despite her innate gifts.

Now, I’ve witnessed the presence she can conjure with ease leading workshops (Aja recently joined our first REWILDING retreat), the selflessness she possesses when opening up her space, Spirit House Collective, for other experts to share, and her uncanny listening skills, pure focused presence. Following is a conversation she and I shared several months ago about the challenges of her path, the faith and gratitude she holds for her work and her clients and how beautiful it is to know we’re never actually alone.

How do you talk about your work to others when you meet them?
When I meet someone, I say I’m a Spirit Guide Medium, and I talk to the dead. I kind of lay it all out, because what I’ve found is people ask all sorts of questions to probe at whether I really believe what I’m saying. So, I start out clear, so there’s no wiggle room in who I am and what I do for them and for me – also so that I don’t embrace any shame or embarrassment around something I know is a blessing, as it’s been a real process of me accepting this as well.

Can you explain the work that the Spirit House Collective you founded does?
It’s a collective of female-identifying healers and artists who come together with the purpose of holding space in a non-judgmental forum with the intent of allowing each of us to get to know ourselves, our purpose and our inner magic on a deeper level. I have anywhere from about 10-15 different workshops and gathering each month.

So, prior to all of this you were doing…?
I went to school at the Life Purpose Institute about two and a half to three years ago with the intent to become a Life Coach, specifically focusing on women. The metaphysical and mediumship aspect came a little later. I shied away from embracing it though, but it’s always been there. I just thought for so long that no one would get it, they’d think I was crazy. As my gifts of perception and connection to the other side deepened, it became non-negotiable. Like my mom says, “Shit or get off the pot”.

Let’s talk about the initiation and appearance of these metaphysical skills. You didn’t embrace them at first, so what was the process like?
Some people may be used to others referring to this as their awakening. I went through a series of depression on and off for years. I moved from Los Angeles to New York, and that slight depression turned into a kind of deep-in-your bones depression, where it just became my norm. During that time, I was still a person who my friends sought out for guidance. I knew I felt connected to helping women and aiding them in finding permission to truly follow their desires and passions. And that goes along with something I’ve always done – finding it easier to nurture others over myself. I would ignore what was going on inside of me and focus on what was in front of me. I think this is something that many women do, as we are natural nurturers. But what I realized is if you’re not nurturing yourself you end up caretaking for others from a place of resentment or obligation, and that nurturing becomes a bit tainted. I knew I wanted to help women take those tainted aspects out of their nurturing and take care of themselves first.

During this whole process, I was reminded of psychic phenomena and my connection to the dead from my childhood, which I tried hard to repress or ignore. The first 10 years or so of my life, I barely even slept in my own bed, because I was so aware of spirts. I had a sleeping bag near my parent’s bed – bless them – because I heard so many sounds and voices. Right after I became a Life Coach, or during the process, I was reminded of the metaphysical as I began a hardcore meditation practice and started studying Tarot decks, and I thought this was just a hobby. It turned into my Spirit Guides leading me into the direction of my calling. At one point, I was speaking to a friend who is a bit of a hobbyist Medium, meaning she is one but hasn’t committed her life to it, and she talked to me about channeling and automatic writing. I thought, how cool, you can talk to your Guides, and they’ll talk back. What you do is, you ask your Guides some questions and ask them to move the pen and they do. The first time I did it, I thought it was crazy! And of course nothing happened. So, I kept meditating and doing my thing and told my friend that’s not for me.

One day I was having lunch with a friend and told her I’d pull some cards on what we’d chatted about when I got home. I awoke from a nap, pulled The Lovers card, and heard a voice – actually heard it say – ‘Be kinder to Justin (Aja’s fiancé)’. And I thought, ‘Holy shit, what was that?!’ From there on out, I made meditating and trying to channel and automatic write a priority. Within two weeks to a month I was talking to Guides in my mind all the time and able to channel.

So, you accepted the gifts right away?
Well, right then I decided to start the Spirit House Collective, as I recognized that now that I was in touch with my Guides I was also in touch with my calling. I felt called to do that. My life has never been the same since. There were definitely periods of darkness within that, where I thought I was going crazy. I wasn’t protecting myself when I was talking to Guides and the dead, because I had no guidance at the time. I had nights where my arms and legs were moving on their own because lower entity spirits were drawn to what I was doing and I was just this open channel. It was a rough experience, which I’ve heard is common when the veil is lifted in that way.

Do you feel as though since you’ve embraced this powerful but potentially scary and isolating calling that you now have a support system?
I am 100% committed to do this work, and in large part that’s because what I want to tell people is you are never alone, literally. In your darkest hour, even if you’re alone in a darkened ally, or in your room crying over a broken heart, you’re actually not alone. You have between 1-6 energies who are with you and watching at any given time. It’s a beautiful experience, and now when I have a dark day I experience it completely differently. During my initiation process, I had two people who really helped me through it while I often thought I was going insane, including one of my healer friends who I told I thought I needed to ask my fiancé to take me to the hospital. She told me to go to the store, get black tourmaline and to protect myself. And I did, and it worked wonders.

Other clairvoyant and healer friends I’ve spoken to have outlined almost a process of petitioning their Teachers or Guides to be able to offer their services for a fee. Is this something you experienced?
I know some people in the community feel differently about this – and all perspectives are valid – but I believe there is a time period in which one needs to hone their gifts and focus the healing on themselves and others for free and not charge. We live in a very different time. 100-200 years ago, I might have been holding readings on a cliffside somewhere where people are bringing food and water and small gifts as compensation. But we have to support and sustain ourselves financially. Even now, I will give some readings as a trade or discount. I gave a woman a reading at a store recently, because I just felt called to talk to her. I asked her, of course, and she received it! If it were possible, my Guides would want me to talk to everyone, but they also know I need a roof over my head. But I am allowed to use this gift to support myself. When I’m giving I’m receiving, and it’s a beautiful dance.

If a client comes to you, or is referred to you, and is either skeptical or just never been around esoteric practices how do you approach that?
I am a very different woman now than when I started coaching training. The way I work is I channel a letter that opens the session with me, and I tell my clients, ‘I am not going to water down what your Guides have to say. I feel as though it’s disrespectful to them, yet sometimes they can be full of fire or very nurturing.’ And that is how I approach people in the real world, too. I say exactly who I am and what kind of work I do instead of making it more pleasing to their ears. If someone doesn’t believe in it, I get it. It’s extra-ordinary, truly. It’s much easier to believe in the ground under our feet than what we can’t see, and, honestly, if someone is highly skeptical I’d rather not have a session with them. They’ll be closed to me, and it will make it harder for me to connect with their Guides. I’ve had clients who didn’t fully believe when they saw me, and a month later came around and told me they now believe in the work I’m doing. That’s who I should be talking to.

Do you see clients other ways than in person? I’m sure plenty of our readers would like to know!
Absolutely! I do Skype, phone, etc. from my office. One of the beautiful things about the way my Guides work with me is that it’s connected to Life Coaching. When I channel letters from someone’s Guides, there is some action and direction to live the life they want, and to be empowered. No matter where someone is, I can still impart wisdom from their guides.

I just love what I do, and every time I talk to a new client I can feel this new level of support for them and empowerment to tap into what they really want.