Julie Loar is an award-winning author of eight books and dozens of articles. She is an expert in symbolism and has worked with dreams, including interpreting dreams live on national radio, for decades. Her latest book, Symbol & Synchronicity: Learning the Soul’s Language in Dreams and Waking Life (Satiama Publishing, 2021), is a practical and comprehensive guide to working with dreams and learning their language. Symbol & Synchronicity has won five international literary awards, including a Nautilus Book Award. You’ll find Julie on her website at JulieLoar.com and on Facebook. Visit her Amazon author page for all of her books.
What was the inspiration for Symbol & Synchronicity?
I’ve worked with dreams and taught about their symbolism for decades. In the mid-2000s, I wrote a series of articles (about 40) for Oracle 20-20 Magazine in Atlanta. I always wanted to do something else with that material. At the onset of the pandemic lockdown in March 2020 I had “motive and opportunity,” and I turned my attention first to 80 articles of 108 I had written for Atlantis Rising magazine. Those articles became a two-volume sky lore anthology. I had the intention to create a similar book with my dream articles, but I was captured by a muse, and the idea morphed into a completely different book that became Symbol & Synchronicity. The isolation of the pandemic offered a writer’s haven and I rose each morning and wrote for a year.
What did you find the most rewarding while writing the book?
I loved the research and the deeper wisdom I gained about symbols, dreams, and synchronicities through the writing process. While writing the book, I had several amazing dreams and experienced stunning synchronicities. I practiced what I learned and incorporated what I wrote into my life, deepening my spiritual practice. I was my own case study, and the experience has enhanced my growth.
When did your spiritual journey begin? Can you pinpoint your own “aha” moment when you knew this would be your life’s calling?
In the summer of my second year in college, I was part of a volunteer program where students from all over the country spent the summer in Mexico living with Mexican families, teaching English, or working in hospitals. About 25 of us who had been together in an orientation in Mexico City developed Hepatitis A. I nearly died, and had what I later learned was called a Near Death Experience (NDE). Although it took years of study and exploration to unpack the experience, my path was revealed. There were many twists, turns, and tests as I realized my life was a spiritual quest and I wanted to work in the area that is now called Mind, Body, Spirit.
What makes this book unique in the Mind, Body, Spirit genre?
Symbol & Synchronicity offers comprehensive and practical tools and techniques that enable readers to work with their own dream symbols and waking synchronicities. As a result of a powerful dream while writing the book, I was guided to create a Seven Steps in Dreamwork© process that is easy to use and can transform dream work. Using the unique seven-step process, anyone can learn to unlock the symbolic messages and guidance that comes in dreams and magical waking synchronicities—it’s the book I wish I had at the beginning of my journey.
Do you have a favorite quote from Symbol & Synchronicity you’d like to share?
“Waking life is like a lucid dream, and we are the dreamer, sleeping until we awaken and remember our purpose. As we choose, and receive the consequences of our choices, slowly we learn. At some critical point in our long journey a spark of divine fire from the Soul (meta-consciousness) ignites the flame of aspiration in our hearts. This flame grows into a radiance as we walk the path of the sacred and do the work required. Our heart begins to beat with compassion in a rhythm that connects us to others and the Universe.” (Chapter 7, page 67)
Of all the books you’ve written, is there a particular one you enjoyed writing the most?
Goddesses for Every Day: Exploring the Wisdom and Power of the Divine Feminine around the World because I learned so much rich information. Learning about hundreds (thousands?) of goddesses from every culture in the world was empowering and affirming as I was unaware of the breadth and depth of the Goddess tradition. I had been hired to ghostwrite a book, and the research that involved revealed what felt to me like a lost history. The story and power of the Divine Feminine is reemerging in the world today, but at the time I was astonished by what I learned and felt a “call” to share, especially with other women.
Tell us about recurring messages or themes in your writing.
The over-arching theme of my work is the spiritual path and the power of symbolism as a guidance system along that journey with the potential to be a transforming influence. I have written books about mythology, astrology, Tarot, numerology, and the divine feminine. My goal is always to facilitate understanding of how to access these ancient teachings to illuminate our lives and empower our spiritual journey.
As a spiritual practitioner, is there a particular experience you can share with your readers that has informed and guided your principles?
Once while driving into town, I had an experience I will never forget. I stopped at a red light at an intersection and was first of a line of cars. As the light turned green and I prepared to drive ahead, I heard a loud and authoritative voice say “Wait!” I was so startled, as I was alone in the car, that I did not accelerate to proceed with my left turn. Within a few seconds a car hurtled through the intersection at a high rate of speed and drove off the road on the other side. I was shaken as I realized had I proceeded through the green light, the vehicle that ran the red light would have struck me broadside with disastrous consequences. Whose voice did I hear? I believe the power of my Psyche produced an audible voice that prevented a tragedy. Such experiences shock us into another state of consciousness. In that moment I was dramatically aware of guidance, and I am deeply grateful for the influence that watches over me.
Is there something that always inspires you or triggers your creativity?
The power of an unanswered question.
Give us a glimpse of what to expect from future writing projects.
I’m working on a second edition of my first book Messengers, which is a novel about ancient Egypt and Atlantis. The first edition was published in 1997 and a lot has been discovered since then. I want to enhance the book and bring it up to date, perhaps including the growing impact of technology, which has exploded since the book was published.
What do you hope readers will take away from Symbol & Synchronicity?
If they commit, knowing they may only need to work with one or two dreams a month, their lives can be transformed and empowered. Dreams provide guidance that is tailored specifically for us and our growth, coming directly from our Higher Self. We have a built-in and customized system that can be life changing when we start to pay attention.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?
Although it may sound trite and a bit condescending, life is a journey not a destination. The journey involves tests, trials, and blessings, and like Bilbo Baggins stepping off his front porch in The Hobbit, or Dorothy Gale and her companions skipping up the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz, the quality of our passage depends largely on our willingness to be transformed by our experiences.
Su Lierz writes dark fiction, short story fiction, and personal essays. Her short story “Twelve Days in April,” written under the pen name Laney Payne, appeared in the 2018 SouthWest Writers Sage Anthology. Su was a finalist in the 2017 and 2018 Albuquerque Museum Authors Festival Writing Contest. She lives in Corrales, New Mexico, with her husband Dennis.
