This interview is copied from the Locals Guide website. You can also read it in paper form if you live in southern Oregon. The interviewer is Shields Bialasik.
I met Annie Fuller in 1999 when she was living in Ashland, Oregon, and offering her gifts to the community. I was experiencing a health issue and was blessed to work with her. It didn’t take long before I wanted to learn more about Annie’s “medicine,” so I enrolled in her Shamanic Journeying Workshop. During the weekend, the group did a simple exercise where, with closed eyes, we asked ourselves a specific question and then shared our experiences. One man reported that he saw a winged pig flying in the night. Once the laughter subsided, Annie transformed his vision into a teaching about how humor or irony can show up in the spiritual realms. She offered insightful teachings when you least expected them. I left the workshop with an understanding of the shamanic worldview and the interconnectedness of all life and soon began paying greater attention to the simplest things. Even flying pigs.
Twenty-two years later, I’ve reconnected with Annie, who now lives in Chico, California. She recently completed a book—Unity Begins Within: Spiritual Healing Meets the Four-Petaled Flower—that shares profound wisdom and experiences from her forty-year healing and teaching practice and almost seventy-year life. In today’s interview, I speak with Annie about her book and the path she walked to its manifestation.
Congratulations! Your book is a stunning masterpiece!
Thank you so much.
My vision was to share teachings from the entirety of my life in a simple yet potent way so the reader could understand and integrate them. This meant the book had to be well-written, beautiful, and user-friendly. One that would help people heal, awaken, and unify their hearts and souls. It took a village.
First, I had to learn how to write better, and editors Kate Brubeck, Alice Peck, and Crystal Shershon taught and “midwifed” me along. For the beauty part, my artist friend Emily Grieves allowed me to use her extraordinary artwork. And Ashland book designer Chris Mole and I collaborated on the layout and cover. The unification of these talented, compassionate (and patient!) women helped manifest my vision.
You’ve said it took over forty years to write. What compelled you to hold that vision for so long?
Writing a book was never a vision. It was more of a burden, an unasked-for pregnancy I was unable to release. Trust me, I tried.
I was born with the destiny to write a book, although over the years I thought it was about other topics—Labor Support, Childbirth Education, Midwifery, Spirituality, Hands-on healing—whatever I was teaching at the time. I never stopped feeling the weight of my mysterious book-baby. Then in 2018, the Camp Fire burned everything I owned, and my life began unfolding along uncharted terrain. Not too long afterward, the pandemic stepped in, and I suddenly felt a quickening—my malnourished book-baby moved! I decided to nurture it.
Why this book?
From my midwifery days in the 1990s to my spiritual healing days in the present, I’ve seen that no matter what issues a client presents, disunity is at the core. Too many of us are fighting internal wars. During the pandemic, I noticed a relationship between these private battles and the external reality —from world governments to nuclear families. Disunity had become another virus growing rampantly throughout the planet, country, and individual people. Why?
We have forgotten that we are One being, an amnesia that has become our collective human wound—The Illusion of Separation from Source. This memory loss manifests as disunity and separation. We needed a way/format to create an internal cease-fire—an awakening process that could change the external madness. If we relinquished our inner weapons, wouldn’t the virus heal and the illusion dissolve? So, I unified my entire life and work, and in the process, discovered what my book-baby was about—Unity.
Tell us about the Four-Petaled Flower.
The Four-Petaled Flower is a symbol of the Unity of all life and is one of the central symbols at the ancient ruins of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Whether carved in stone or painted on walls, it shows up everywhere. And not just at Teotihuacan. Throughout the world.
What do you see as the core message of your book? Why is it needed at this time?
We are spirits—conscious Lights of Love— in human form. One being manifesting in an infinite number of distinct ways. Not unlike the Four-Petaled Flower, where each unique petal meets in the center and creates the entirety of the flower.
If we can remember our identity, perhaps we’ll realize that we are a family—a spirit/human community of sisters and brothers. This awakening is the consummate fertilizer for the growth of Unity, compassion, and acceptance of another’s sometimes difficult-to-understand beliefs and lifestyles. Unity Begins Within is needed because the separation virus is out of control.
This book is unique. Talk about how you structured it.
I merged Spiritual Healing with the Four-Petaled Flower and united them with the Medicine Wheel, a sacred symbol of Native American culture. This union served as the foundational template. I decided which spiritual teachings belonged in the individual petals/directions and added true stories and art to enhance the overall messages. Then I included experiential opportunities to support readers as they rouse from the slumber of spiritual separation, rediscover their primal legacy, and recognize and heal inner disunity.
I wanted readers to have a container, a safe place from which they could explore. Since I always work within a ceremonial space, I opened a ceremony with them at the very beginning of the book. My intent was to bring readers together as a group so their individual experiences could take place within the context of others. Then I took the group on a Four-Petaled Flower awakening journey. We began in pre-birth Unity and Oneness, traveled to the dual nature of Earth—where separation and suffering are commonplace— and explored death and our eventual return to the Unity of spirit. Throughout the book, I speak to the readers as if we are physically together, and at the end, we collectively close the ceremony.
What does the “union of dissimilar energies” mean?
A spirit teacher shared, “For a spirit, the path is most significant. For a human, the body and life are paramount. Each has different perspectives and goals.”
We are spirit and human. A spirit is formless and does not experience suffering, victimization, or death. A human has a physical body and experiences all these things.
The “union of dissimilar energies” is the definition of my favorite Quechua word—Yanantin. How do we—as spirit/human beings— find purpose, solace, or perspective during dreadful life events? I wrote an entire chapter about this in which I shared my experience of the Camp Fire. As a spirit in human form who was the victim of a tragedy, I’m still trying to understand the spiritual overview. And integrate the union of unknown opposites. What was the point?
Yanantin is not about discounting our humanness. We must survive. Sinking into emotions is healthy. And then once we’re safe and grounded, maybe, just maybe, we can arrive at an overview and gain a life-enhancing understanding. Being willing to look at life from a spiritual perspective has reduced my suffering, but sometimes teachings evade me.
What is the book supposed to do?
Its purpose is to serve as a spiritual awakener and healer. To help people understand and integrate their spirit/human partnership. We choose to incarnate. There are no accidents. Whatever the events in our lives may be, they serve a purpose (Yanantin once again). Unity Begins Within offers readers a multi-dimensional perspective on their existence and shares potent ways for them to end their battles and live in peace and Unity. Plus, don’t you think it’s time for Spiritual Healing and its often-miraculous results to become household words?
The many stories about your life create a safe and personal relationship with readers. Please say more.
As a healer, teacher, and ceremonial leader, people sometimes think I’m more evolved than they are. This is so untrue! I grew up in a household of separation, abuse, and secrets and lived a childhood that required a long healing path. I left my parent’s house immediately after high school and attended the College of Survival. I am a graduate. My sister was not so lucky.
I share my stories and vulnerabilities so students and clients might accept theirs and begin to acknowledge their personal power. I believe that emotional accessibility is an essential quality of my work. Someone in the publishing field suggested I write this book in such a way that by the end, I would be seen as an expert on Unity. That was the last thing I would ever do! I’m not ashamed of my vulnerabilities. Sharing them is often the key that reaches inside a person’s soul and unlocks the door to theirs. We cannot heal and unify if we’re unwilling to be real, so if my life and path can serve yours—perfect. (I did go through a phase where I decided I wasn’t going to be in the book. At all. I’m still laughing about that crazy idea.)
What were some highlights that occurred for you while you were writing?
I wasn’t expecting the Four-Petaled Flower to play such a huge role. That knowing, which came to me one sunny day while I was walking my dog, was thrilling. I enjoyed choosing which of Emily’s paintings to use and deciding (or maybe my book-baby decided) where they wanted to be. Working with Chris to put everything together was an unexpected delight. The College of Survival didn’t offer a degree in creative writing, so another highlight was when something clicked inside of me that manifested in improved writing and compliments from my editors.
What I loved most was living in what felt like a limitless creative flow.
What were your biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?
My life has been full of challenges, so I’ve become used to them. Regarding this book, the biggest ones were the unexpected learning curves. It felt like new neural pathways were constantly growing in my brain, and as soon as one established itself, another grew. My book-baby knew what it wanted to be, and I had to get with the program and learn, grow, listen, and adapt to what that was.
Where might your book take its readers?
Most readers traveling around the Four-Petaled Flower Medicine Wheel will absorb the teachings through their current spiritual and emotional lenses. Some might realize I’ve named what they knew all along. Others might disagree. If a reader has engaged with the experiential opportunities throughout the book, buried past life memories might rise to the surface. Some readers may gain new understandings regarding a physical or emotional ailment. The death chapter could bring them to an acceptance of their death. Each aspect of every petal has the potential to awaken the reader in both comfortable and uncomfortable ways. And all awakenings have healing potential.
What are your goals for your book-baby?
My lofty goal is that everyone interested in healing and spirituality finds, reads, and benefits from Unity Begins Within. It has gifts for all readers, wherever they are along their path. And as a dedicated believer in Spiritual Healing, I would be thrilled if more people became open to working with spiritual healers for their physical, emotional, and energetic disharmonies. My book-baby’s primary goal is facilitating Unity in whatever ways a reader needs. I’m ready for millions of individual spiritual lights to radiate and change the world. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Are there any final comments you would like to share?
I’d like to conclude with the words of a spirit teacher, “Unity exists always, even in the direst manifestations of separation.” So, if you find yourself in an experience where separation is rearing its sleepy head, remember—Unity is present. And each person participating in the drama is a spirit in human form who is unconsciously living the illusion of separation. All are one, no matter what.
Where can we buy Unity Begins Within?
My website shares the overview—www.fullcirclespiritualhealing.com. Once there, you can click on Amazon, look inside, and purchase it, or Barnes and Noble, where you can also purchase it.
Thank you for this insightful interview.
6 comments
I vibe with: I’m ready for millions of individual spiritual lights to radiate and change the world. Thanks for your contributions, Annie!
I’m there with you Sharon.
Fantastic interview! Read the book if you haven’t already!
You look radiant, Annie my love!
Really beautiful interview! I can personally attest to the power of your sharing of your vulnerabilities and life challenges helping to touch my own and how that has helped my own healing path. Your book is a powerful testament to the importance of all of us doing the work of personal healing as a way of contributing to the healing of our collective being. Thank you Annie for all you share and do.
The gardening, knitting, cleaning, making fires, and meeting my new neighbor, in my fairly new house of 4 years, in my new life all happened because Annie opened the door for me. She didn’t do it FOR me. She lovingly opened the door so I COULD walk gently in to my next life…and I get to live that life now!
Thank you for your powerful, loving, unique medicine.!!
Respect, love, honor and boundless gratitude for writing this book so millions can receive your messages!
Love S