ABOUT Ray Holley

Ray Holley

The Story of Ray Holley

The following topics outline the phases of Ray’s life and how his life changed when he moved to Sedona, AZ and met Linda Deir

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Ray Holley, publisher of GUIDED Press

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MY SEARCH FOR SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Ray Holley – 4 years old

Ray Holley - 4 years oldI grew up in a family that would say they were very religious. On my road to self-discovery, I began by going through the motions of growing up Catholic; attending Catholic grade school and high school. I was a good Catholic soldier believing what I was told to believe without questioning; developing a catechism consciousness.

It all began to change in high school where the Jesuits taught me more about how to think than what to believe. Like Native Americans who went on a Vision Quest, I was a Midwesterner on a spiritual journey. I was on a metaphysical path unsure of where I would end up. Like anyone on a journey, I looked for maps and guides. I looked East to the Yogis who seemed to have simple beliefs and difficult positions.

Ray Holley - Teenage Musicianalso read about ESP, intuitive Musician as a teenager phenomenon, parapsychology, metaphysics, atheists, agnostics, precognition, clairvoyance, UFO’s, and any other topic that seemed to be out of the mainstream of “normal” thinking. Additionally, as a teenager, I studied alternative natural health remedies, herbs and basic “grandma’s remedies,” as well as nutritional supplements of all kinds for my own wellness. At the time, most books on self-development and awareness had to do with positive thinking, how to win friends and influence people, or how to become successful and rich. Even as a teenager, I had a huge library of “motivational” books and tapes. While they contained a wealth of knowledge and advice about how to become successful, organized, or rich, very few mentioned spirituality as a component of a well-rounded life. I also found that very few books treated religion and spirituality as different topics. If you were religious, then, of course, you had to be spiritual. Moreover, if you were spiritual, you were probably a follower of some kind of religion or cult. So far, on my Journey, I discovered I wasn’t religious at all, but I did relate to Spirituality.

SPIRITUAL GUY IN A CORPORATE WORLD

I entered the corporate world in the late 1970’s

Ray Holley - Corporate GuyIf you were a spiritual person, Ray Holley – Corporate Guy you certainly did not admit it in the materialistically oriented environment of Fortune 500 companies. Although I prospered as an executive, something was missing. Although I had a modicum of success, worthy goals, and ideals, a job I liked, a healthy family, two nice cars and a big house, a piece of the self-fulfillment pie was missing. I didn’t feel that what I had or accomplished so far in life had made the world a better place. Could what I had done so far in life be the reason I was here? When exactly does the Spirituality element kick in? It was during this period of my life in the early 1980’s that stray animals started showing up. Unplanned in any way, they just “appeared” out of nowhere.

Ray's rescue cats

At first, it was just cats, and later on, dogs (and more cats). Never before having a pet, I thought this was very strange. At first, two tiny stray kittens showed up out of nowhere. They appeared to be feral and, although nobody could get near them, they didn’t seem to be afraid of me. Then a third one appeared. Then two more. Then another, and another, and two more, etc. I never went looking for them; they just showed up everywhere I turned. I would take an early morning walk around my Ray’s rescue cats neighborhood on weekends and by the time I got home, 15-20 cats would be following me. They came out of nowhere my cats, neighbors’ cats, stray cats, feral cats all fell in line behind me. Most of them were in immediate need of medical care. With the exception of surgeries that some of them needed, I patched them up and healed them with my own natural remedies and energy work… my first patients. They became healthy and lived long happy lives. After they were healed and emotionally balanced I began finding homes for many of them as fast as I could. All in all, over 100 cats appeared out of nowhere while I lived in California. Moving to Texas in the early 1990’s meant a larger house, a bigger yard with a woods out back, and (you guessed it!) more cats started showing up. Not only more cats, but now dogs that needed a home appeared.

Ray's rescue dog

At first, a sick Greyhound that needed a home became a family member for 7 years. During that time, many other Greyhounds became foster dogs. More and more cats came and went. I was never sure how many I had at any one time. Then another interesting thing happened. The Greyhound who had been sick for many years died. Within a couple weeks of his death, a stray mutt showed up at the front door looking for a home. Apparently, he had heard of our dog-less situation and moved in. I truly believe that animals are the Master Healers and that I have a special bond with animals that allow me to understand and relate to them in a deep way. I applied my knowledge of natural remedies to facilitate wellness and healing in my pets who all lived long healthy lives. I use this gift to help people with their pet’s needs, understand their bond with their pets and work with them to achieve closure when their beloved pet passes on.

LEAVING THE CORPORATE WORLD

My life changed the day I was fired from my job

Ray Holley - Spiritual Guy

with the executive with cherry wood office furniture was now unemployed. Being fired for the first time in my life made me realize that I was now at a crossroads of my Journey. It was now that I had the choice to either seek out more of the same or take over the direction of my destiny.

Ray Holley – Spiritual Guy of my life. Having a wife, a small child, a mortgage and other financial obligations certainly made my choice difficult. What if I changed direction and it didn’t work out? Finding another job like the one I had would be the easy choice. However, how would I know what I could have become if I didn’t take a chance at it? After all, what is the worst that could happen? The worst would be that I had to take another job like the others I had in the past. I decided to take control of my life, my time, and my future. No longer would I work for someone else, follow someone else’s plan for their life, or tolerate corporate incompetence and politics for a paycheck. I started my own business, an executive search firm, with a desk, a telephone, a computer, a Rolodex of contacts built up over the years, and a lot of belief in myself. I also decided that I would never take a job that did not have service to others as its guiding principle. My business turned out to be an immediate success and continued to be successful for 14 years until I sold it in 2004 and moved permanently to Sedona, Arizona where I had purchased a second home in 2000.

Now, he’s using his intuition more than ever before – day-trading the stock market…

Ray's trading desk

I became interested in the stock market in the early 1990’s. I started out like most people do by investing in the “popular” stocks of the day. These were the “safe” investments like utilities, major manufacturers, insurance companies, drug companies and the like. These were the investments that just about everyone’s broker recommended you should buy-and-hold for the long-haul along with mutual funds. Rarely did you question your broker – the expert. You went with their advice because most of the time, you didn’t have the extra time to study the market – you had a job that took up most of your time. I watched my account as it went up a little, back down a little, back up, back down, and thought that there must be a better way to make money in the market. However, at that time, expensive commissions and fees wiped out most gains if you tried to “trade” the market. I started reading everything I could get my hands on about the market. I devoured books on trading, charting, options, fundamentals, accepted strategies, contrarian theories, and much more. I read the WSJ and Investor’s Business Daily to study trends and day-to-day market activity. I got pretty good at the technical stuff and also listened to my own intuition to find stocks that would make significant moves in a short period of time. Once discount brokers made the scene, I switched my account to them and started to trade more often sometimes on a daily basis. This was long before the “day-trader” phenomenon became popular. I started making some great returns by getting in and out of a position quickly. I got so good at it that everyone at my broker’s office called me, “Mr. Lucky.” Once online trading became popular, I was in my element. I became a day trader for eight years. I went through the Tech boom of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and did very well. With the exception of one year that I took off, I have position traded the market since 1996 until 2010.

MOVING TO SEDONA AND CHANGING MY LIFE

Ray’s new life in Sedona, ArizonaThe Home of Linda Deir & Ray Holley

I started visiting Sedona, AZ in 1993 when a friend from Austin, Texas bought a house there. Like many, I fell in love with Sedona the first time I visited. Each time I visited, I felt something very spiritual in the air. It was as if there was some special kind of spiritual communication happening there. Was it the vortexes or the red rocks? Was it the spirits of the Indians who used to inhabit the land there and mysteriously disappeared over a thousand years ago? What made this place a Mecca for all types of new age characters… gurus, psychic readers, crystal healers, metaphysical teachers, writers, mediums, alternative medicine practitioners, UFO chasers, and the like? Whatever it was, I could feel it strongly every time I visited even though I could not explain it. One of my friends from Austin, TX who had visited Sedona several times said that “the big Mojo in the Sky” lives there! Whatever it was, it made me feel good; a peaceful spiritual feeling that not only made a person sleep like never before, but an awareness while awake that this was a special place on this Earth and in our Universe. Even though I was now residing in Sedona, AZ I still didn’t know why I was there or what had drawn me there in the first place. What was I supposed to be doing in this New Age small town? While relaxing at my favorite coffee shop one morning, I got my answer.

RAY HOLLEY MEETS LINDA DEIR ON FEBRUARY 28, 2004

Raven Heart in Sedona - where Ray and Linda first met

A woman walked into the coffee shop and while she waited for her favorite latte blend to be served up, she looked over and smiled at me. I smiled back and Raven Heart in Sedona – where Ray and Linda first met then saw her grab her drink and head for the parking lot. Probably a tourist, I reasoned and didn’t give it a second thought, although I felt we did have “a moment” in that glance. Later that day, while working out at the gym, I run into this same woman! Two times in one day! Now this is beyond coincidence; this has now become cosmic. This time, I introduce myself and try my best to get her telephone number so she doesn’t get away a second time. She tells me she has a website and that if I want to contact her, her email address is there. I go home and check out her website and discover that she has a business named, Channeled Readings. I go to the Channeled Readings website and find out that she is an intuitive psychic medium that teaches people how to contact their Spirit Guide Angels from the other side, as well as interpreting dreams. At the website, she explains that getting people in touch with their own personal Spirit Guide Angels is a very powerful experience that goes far beyond other types of readings… like having your palm read or cards read. I’m intrigued and want to know more about this woman, her spiritual connections, and this Channeled Readings experience.

THEY GET MARRIED ON JANUARY 1, 2005

Ray and Linda's wedding day 1-1-2005

We began seeing each other and found that we had many things in common. We were both Leos, successful business people, survivors of challenging relationships, both very intuitive and liked and disliked the same things. Could we be Soul Mates? Could making this spiritual connection with this woman be the reason my journey had brought me to this place? Apparently, it was because Linda and I were married on January 1, 2005.

The intersection of two lives filled with many of the same experiences and disappointments now came together in a new direction and for a new purpose. Linda taught me how to channel… how to make that connection with the collective intelligence in the Universe… and how to use this power to help people in unlimited ways.

When I first attempted channeling on the Ask the Universal Channel® talking board, the communication came through choppy and unfocused. The first few sessions were tiring and stressful. I felt that I was not receiving the proper type of communication and I was exhausted afterward. As we did more and more channeling, the information became not only clearer but came through much quicker. What used to be cryptic clauses had now become full sentences that flowed. I was still very tired afterward and Linda said that was not uncommon. It takes a lot of energy to relax, open up, and unlock the receptive channels.

I’m hoping to learn much more as we continue to offer this unique service to the world.

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