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- Written by: John Thornton
To celebrate ten years of Marriage Equality in the United States we are offering our Quick Commitment Wedding Ceremony with License Signing for $50!
A short and sweet ceremony, held in our office. Your choice of 2 standard ceremony scripts (civil or spiritual) and paperwork filing. 24 hours minimum notice required. ~ $50!
Includes
* choice of 2 standard ceremony scripts. (civil or spiritual)
* Wedding Ceremony
* Filing wedding license
IF COMING TO OUR OFFICE: You must have gotten your wedding license in the state of Ohio. We cannot sign a license in our office if it is from outside Ohio. The date on the license must be legal. There is no waiting period in Ohio, you must apply for a marriage license at a probate court. Residency matters, it is best to request the marriage license in the county where you live. You need to have it with you. No witnesses are needed. A maximum of 4 people may join you in our office.
Our fee for an in-office wedding is $50. (Payment upon booking.)
What will happen:
One of our Officiants (Joe or John) will conduct a sweet and short wedding ceremony which will include love-centered readings, wedding vows (to make it legal), and a ring ceremony if you wish to exchange rings.
Your Officiant will sign your wedding license to mail it for you the next business day.
We can take a picture together if you’d like. You can also take a few pictures as well. You may include others via video streaming if desired.
How to Make an Appointment for In Person Office Wedding & License Signing Ceremony:
Ready to schedule an in person, office wedding & license signing ceremony? If you are ready, understand the terms above, and want to schedule a time for this service, use the scheduler below to book a time! It’s that easy!
Our office address is: 1060 Crandall Ave., Youngstown, OH 44510
Please note that we do not accept walk-ins. Services are by appointment only.
As many of you know, I am a Reiki Master/Teacher and Holistic Life Coach and I’ve studied various other energetic healing modalities, including Shamanic energy work. For quite some time I’ve been teaching my Reiki students from materials that I’ve written. I’ve also shared with them other exercises and practices that I’ve learned through my studies as well as from experience. My goal has been to give my students as many tools and as much knowledge as I could to help them become the best Reiki facilitators they could be.
One day I decided to begin the arduous process of putting everything into book form. Now it’s complete and it’s being released Monday, October 28th! I can’t even begin to tell you how excited and proud I am.
The book is titled “Reiki & Beyond” and will be available from Amazon, and will also be available in metaphysical shops in the near future. It’s designed to be a valuable aide no matter your Reiki level. It’s a great manual for other Reiki teachers to use; it’s perfect for Reiki beginners, learning at all three levels; it’s ideal for experienced Reiki facilitators as well, offering lessons they may never have learned before.
This book covers the history of Reiki, an explanation of chakras and how they impact our bodies as well as working with them, auras, Animal Reiki, Distance Reiki, the sacred symbols, meditation, and many other techniques and practices. (One of my favorite aspects of the book are the removable cheat sheets in the back of the book.) “Reiki & Beyond” truly is perfect for people at every stage and level of Reiki, novice to experienced.
There are actually 3 versions of the book: a paperback with black & white images for $20; a paperback with full color images for $40; a hardback full color edition for $50. (Personally, I recommend grabbing a $20 copy.)
It’s cliché to say that it’s been a labor of love, but it really was. There was a lot of labor involved and mountains of love put into the creation of “Reiki & Beyond”. I hope you enjoy it and learn something as well.
Be sure to pick-up your copy of “Reiki & Beyond” on Amazon, beginning Monday, October 28th! And after giving it a read, let me know what you think!
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- Written by: John Thornton
Many of you and the pleasure of meeting Felicia Weinstein at a Great Conjunction Psychic Fair or at a lecture or workshop. Maybe you got a reading, learned something new, or shared a laugh and a smile. She was a big presence, hard to miss... but why would you want to?
Joe and I first met Felicia at a psychic fair almost ten years ago. At first we were all trying to be professional, spiritual type people, but it didn’t take long for her wicked humor and sharp tongue to peek out. I knew we were all going to be friends when she said, “Well this fair sucks. Why are we here?” Obviously we were there to meet Felicia and take clandestine pictures of the hypnotist sleeping in his booth.
It was a pleasure and honor to work and teach with Felicia. She was generous, funny, trustworthy, and smart. She was a kind teacher, but quite willing to tell you when she thought you were being dense or purposefully obtuse. In those moments she would flip from spiritual teacher to sarcastic smartass in seconds, and it was a joy to behold.
I am forever grateful for the kindness she showed me when I melted down at a fair and my spirit guides told me in no uncertain terms to go see Felicia. I didn’t feel judged, only supported and seen.
Felicia Ann Weinstein, 61, passed in late December 2022.
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- Written by: John Thornton
Great Conjunction is delighted to announce our new internship program and to introduce our new intern Katrina Neff! Katrina will be working with us to refine and expand our outreach, both online and in person, expand our print offerings, and formalize our internship program. Already she is bringing a renewed energy to our offices and we are thrilled to welcome her to Great Conjunction. Katrina will be working part-time onsite and remote, June through August of this year.
Thanks to our donors and everyone who has joined us for a Great Conjunction Event this is a paid internship! It is important to us that internships be available to everyone. By offering a paid internship we are able to open the program to a wider audience and attract superb talent.
You can support Great Conjunction and all of our programs by making a tax deductible donation.
Katrina Neff is a 2022 graduate of Walsh University in North Canton, Akron. She received her Bachelor’s of Art degree with double majors in Museum Studies and History along with a minor in Art History. She was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award for both of her majors and she was also inducted into Phi Alpha Theta. In the spring of 2021, she received second place for Best Undergraduate Paper at the H.A.T.H Conference held at Youngstown State University. Her paper was accepted by the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Review for publication and she is currently in the last stages of the publication process. Katrina was also a Blouin Global Scholar, an honors program at Walsh University that focuses on discussing and analyzing global humanitarian issues. With this group, Katrina has traveled to Tanzania, Africa and multiple U.S. states on global learning experiences. Outside academic achievement, Katrina was a member of the Walsh University Marching Band and the Walsh Dance Team. Katrina has also been working at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, in Akron, Ohio, as a Collections Technician since November of 2020.
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- Written by: John Thornton
I was 18 when I first read about Terry Pratchett’s witches. Wise women, often kind and sometimes cross, who guided their communities with a soft, but stern hand. I knew these women, I was surrounded by some of them. Spirits in human form who never did “magic”, but knew about herbs, plants, healing and food. How to make a handful of nothing and the herbs from the yard into a nourishing meal that an 80’s boy couldn’t turn up his nose at. One of those witches (never call her that to her face) was Phyllis and she lived next door.
Phyllis was retired from the phone company. She scoured antique markets and auctions, she cooked, gardened, and turned her yard into a shady haven where roses with apple scented leaves grew, honey scented yellow flowers peaked through the snow, and treasures were hidden round every curve of the path.
It was my final year in college when she predicted her death. She was recovering from a second bout of cellulitis and said quite confidently, “If a third round comes, that will be the end.” When she saw the look on my face she hastily walked it back, but by the following summer she was gone.
I
was away when she passed, living in the pavement paradise of Queens, with only a few small patches of dirt to visit in my neighborhood. I didn’t feel her passing, but on my next visit home, her nephew offered me some of her cookbooks and I eagerly accepted the oldest and the strangest he was willing to give. That’s when I felt her, hovering around those well loved books that were stuffed in the closet (much like me at the time), waiting for someone to give them the love they needed.
I had just bought my first house the next time I felt her presence. I was standing behind my new (to me) house, searching for ways to make it feel private and safe when I saw her standing in the shade of a tall, narrow yew. For just a moment, I saw the land transformed with gentle evergreens and shady curves cupping the house; shielding it away from prying neighbors and chaotic energies.
I only saw her a few more times in the 14 years we lived in that house, always standing in the shade of a tree - looking content and just a bit proud.
It was this fall I felt her again, for the first time in years. I have been struggling with this new yard. It’s a tidy little suburban yard that needed nothing, but a bit of trimming to be nice and tidy. I hated it and immediately began making a chaotic mess as I third to figure it out (my Father-in-law hated that).
I didn’t know what to do or where to start (I mean, I started a compost pile. I’m not a monster.), but all I had done was plant some annuals and start the veggie garden. This year the scrubby, vining shrubs scattered around the yard grew thick and lush, finally showed me what they are: Phyllis’s beloved Bittersweet. She struggled with this plant and never had more than a bit growing in the hedgerow, but she would cut the colorful berries every fall and decorate and much as she could. I always planned to plant some in her honor, but here there are, growing with a newfound vigor after hiding what they were for our first few years together.
Cupping the orange berries I knew Phyllis had taken an interest in this new patch of land where my herbs grow like never before and shade dapples the grass.
American or False Bittersweet (Not to be confused with bella donna, also called bittersweet) is a twining shrub with flame colored small berries in the late fall. Toxic if ingested to dogs, cats, horses and people, it is rarely used by herbalists anymore, but was once used to treat bowel obstructions, late menstruation and skin blemishes. This is no longer recommended! The berries can cause severe bowl cramping and pain. However, birds love the berries. It dries easily and is beautiful in arrangements and the autumn landscape.