Spirituality Health – May-June 2026

Summary

Spirituality & Health Vol. 3 No. 3 for May/June 2026 anchors itself with a "Sacred Self-Acceptance Special Section" (p.17) and a "Sacred Travel Section" (p.35), making the case that both inner peace and physical pilgrimage belong in the same conversation. John Holland — the medium and author — sits for an "Enlightened Perspectives" interview (p.30) on awakening to your soul's voice, while Denise Linn (p.26) offers readers permission to "be your own fairy godmother" in a piece on reframing low self-esteem.

"Beyond the Mirror" (p.17) by Rona Cherry opens the self-acceptance section with a challenge to readers to spend 24 hours without looking at their own reflection. "The First Time I Met My Body and Didn't Apologize" (p.20) by Pascaline Odogwu is a searing first-person essay on healing body shame. "Sacred Journeys: A Divine Appointment" (p.36) by Lori Erickson describes a chance meeting with a Benedictine monk at a train station in Assisi that became a pilgrimage detour. "Sacred Journeys: Barefoot and Becoming" (p.42) by Noelle Wurr traces a barefoot Camino de Santiago segment — 200 kilometres on unpaved trails.

Regular columns include "The Soul of Therapy" (p.10) on addressing spiritual bypass in clinical settings, "The Joy of Texts" (p.12) on finding sacred readings in pop culture, and "Love & Justice for All" (p.14) on prison abolition as spiritual practice. The "Toolbox" (p.60) recommends five journaling prompts for self-compassion. For readers who find typical self-acceptance advice too clinical, this issue reframes the topic in explicitly spiritual language.

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Content Guide

▸ Special Section: Sacred Self-Acceptance

p.17 · Beyond the Mirror
Cherry's 24-hour mirror-fast experiment yields observations about how much of daily self-criticism is visual. She reports a measurable drop in cortisol after 12 hours without seeing her face. The piece includes a 3-day mirror-fast protocol readers can try at home.

p.20 · The First Time I Met My Body and Didn't Apologize
Odogwu writes about growing up in a Nigerian-British household where her body was constantly commented on, and the healing journey that led her to stand naked before a full-length mirror and say nothing. The essay avoids both therapy-speak and spiritual platitudes. It lands as one of the issue's most emotionally honest pieces.

p.26 · Be Your Own Fairy Godmother
Denise Linn offers four rituals — a candle-lighting ceremony, a written declaration to the self, a physical gesture of receiving, and a weekly "council of wise women" practice — to reframe the inner critic as an inner ally. Each ritual takes under 15 minutes. The tone is warm without being saccharine.

▸ Interviews & Profiles

p.30 · Enlightened Perspectives: John Holland
Karen Brailsford's interview with the psychic medium covers his transition from a corporate career, the difference between mediumship and channeling, and why he believes everyone has psychic ability but most suppress it. Holland offers a 3-step exercise for readers to distinguish intuition from anxiety.

▸ Sacred Travel

p.36 · Sacred Journeys: A Divine Appointment
Erickson's chance meeting with a monk at the Basilica of Saint Francis becomes a meditation on how pilgrimage works even when you don't reach the intended destination. She includes practical advice for travellers who feel they've had a "failed" pilgrimage. The piece validates the detour as the destination.

p.42 · Sacred Journeys: Barefoot and Becoming
Wurr describes walking 200 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago without shoes — the physical pain, the reactions of fellow pilgrims, and the eventual release of the need for comfort. The tactile detail (blisters that became calluses, then became indifferent) makes the spiritual transformation physical.

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Editor's Take

The self-acceptance special section is the heart of this issue and the reason to buy it — Cherry's mirror-fast and Odogwu's body essay are among the best things S&H has published this year. The two pilgrimage pieces in the travel section are well-matched and avoid the "I went to India and found myself" clichés. The weakness is the John Holland interview: readers unfamiliar with mediumship may find the premises too unexamined. Denise Linn's fairy-godmother piece is charming but offers nothing she hasn't published in her previous five books. Also, "Love & Justice for All" on prison abolition is conceptually bold but sits uneasily next to the travel section's spa-retreat advertising. The issue as a whole coheres around the self-acceptance theme better than the travel one, but both sections contain at least one standout piece.

Strengths
• Mirror-fast experiment is original, testable, and powerful
• Odogwu's body essay is the issue's emotional anchor
• Two pilgrimage pieces that avoid tired travel-spirituality tropes

Weaknesses
• John Holland interview requires prior belief in mediumship
• Prison abolition column jars against spa-retreat advertising

Verdict: Recommended — Worth buying for the self-acceptance section alone, especially the mirror-fast and Odogwu essay.