We were lucky to catch up with Erica Xavier-Beauvoir recently and have shared our conversation below.
Erica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
Risk means we dance with our fears. Usually, these fears are embedded in our cultural, familial, and surrounding reality fabric. Famous Black Feminist scholar Bell Hooks stated, “When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us.” Deciding to fully embrace my Psychic abilities at a time deeply rooted in stability, community, and purpose placed me in a position of choice. I’ve always had psychic powers, however living in the South where psychic abilities were hidden in dreams, cooking, superstitions, and church, there wasn’t room for me to openly hone in on my destined craft. The opposite happened. I was told to “rebuke” it and stay clear of “listening” to the ghosts around me.
Going through internal struggles because the ghosts were family and people actively protecting me, I wondered why my family distanced themselves from our spiritual inheritance. Traveling a traditional path, I began my professional career as a police officer. I wanted to help people, policing allowed for diverse connections and ways of maneuvering various emotional responses. Some wanted to share information, and some were not-so-pleasant encounters. All were needed to develop my curiosity around people and disconnection from spiritual intelligence. As I learned how to be curious in my professional capacity, I ultimately became more curious about my relationship with spirituality.
After months of introducing meditation into my daily routine, I heard a voice. This voice wasn’t my voice. There was no one in the house with me. The voice was familiar. It was the same voice from my childhood. The valiant protector kept me safe as I slept. Sitting and reacquainting with Spirits waiting for my reunion, I realized life has the possibility of changing. Could I juggle the reactivation of my spiritual powers and juggle a police career? I mistakenly said yes. Going to a call and seeing a husband and wife arguing in front of me, and seeing their ancestors arguing behind them was the first clue I couldn’t do both. The last clue was driving to an overtime assignment and witnessing an accident. A pedestrian attempting to run across the highway. Seeing the Spirit of the deceased next to the body and talking to the deceased was my final clue.
Do I risk leaving stability? Do I leave a job where I have upward mobility and have great standing in the community? Do I risk my pension, safety, potential family savings, and my “willful ignorance” to surrender to invisible forces saying I have to work with them now? Taking this risk means I could potentially be stigmatized, alienated, and no longer have the same relationships I currently have.
My grandmother Emma Kate told me long ago, “The first thing you should always do is be yourself and forget what everyone else thinks. If you move authentically, you will be at peace for the rest of your days.” My grandmother passed away before I left policing. I turned in my notice, left the job, left the city, and focused all of my attention on perfecting how quickly I could access Spirit in my connections. Many people who were close friends in my policing days are no longer close in this chapter. I’ve been on an island perfecting my craft. I must say, the benefits of taking this risk and saying yes to my destiny have opened up so many amazing opportunities. At this point, I’ve mentored dozens of individuals, had celebrity clients, participated in articles, given expert advice in interviews, and currently shopping around TV show ideas to production companies. My story is a movie in itself.
Being charged with changing the narrative around Psychic Medium work is my destiny. When people think of Mediums, they certainly don’t think of people like me, a non-binary, queer, Afro-West Indian-Indigneous masculine-of-center being. Taking a risk to accept and surrender to my destined path changed my life in beautiful and profound ways. I would say yes over and over again so others like me can see representation in psychic medium work.
Erica, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” – Audre Lorde
Erica Xavier-Beauvoir is a multi-hyphenated Spiritual Traveler, Psychic Medium Abolitionist, Sage, and Healer. My ancestors were abolitionists such as Thomas Dorsey, a famous food caterer and abolitionist in Philadelphia. Will Dorsey, Thomas’ son was a famous archivist helping the likes of W.E.B Dubois with research by way of Will’s archived newspaper article scrapbooks. Basil Dorsey, Thomas’ brother built a house in the northeast to help slaves achieve freedom during the Underground Railroad. Paternally I come from a long line of Haitian Priests and Priestesses. One man was my great uncle Papa Max Beauvoir, a priest to the stars who worked for Bill Clinton. Ancestor Touissant Louverture helped with the slave rebellion during the Haitian Revolution. Lastly, my paternal ancestral line hails from the Dahomey royal Agassou bloodline. Agassou, a King deified as a Haitian Lwa (deity) due to bringing Vodoun to the island of Haiti. Speaking about our ancestors helps craft our inherent story.
Erica is a full-time Psychic Medium and green/natural burial artivist. They use diverse creative media and intergenerational community data to articulate the need for green/natural burial options in cities across the U.S. through their project Earthing Our Funerals. Erica also provides workshops, readings, and mentorships to those seeking spiritual connection. They were also a subject matter expert for PBS Voices’ “Why This Nature Preserve is Also a Cemetery” documentary. One of the proudest moments is the City of Durham passing green/natural burials in city cemeteries based on Erica’s community surveys, engagement, presentation, and policy discussion. Beechwood, a historically Black cemetery in Durham will have green/natural burial plots available for those choosing such options. This citywide policy change has eliminated some barriers often seen in marginalized communities where people of color do not have access to environmentally friendly options due to price or education. Closing the gap in education and having an affordable price point for a green/natural burial plot should be templated in other cities.
The main takeaway is no matter if I’m working with city governments, nonprofits, activists, or individuals, my psychic mediumship is part of my work. Cemeteries are loud places. The land and soil have their own requests. The land asks us to be intentional with Mother Earth. Find ways to reduce harm. One way is by choosing green/natural burials and not infusing the fertile lands with cement, steel, and toxic embalming fluid. Another way is by learning about your spiritual purpose. Ancestors are attached to the land, soil, trees, and nature we dwell with. Seek time to learn from nature and ultimately we learn how to move forward as a collective.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
Gathering intel from Spirits means Psychic Mediums need curiosity, fearlessness, diverse knowledge, rest and pleasure, and spiritual hygiene. Psychic powers are gifted ancestrally. That doesn’t mean you are chosen to share knowledge with the masses in a leadership capacity. Some people with psychic gifts are meant to be chefs, CEOs, activists, police officers, creatives, entertainers, and much more. It was helpful to ask my ancestors what was my role with my gifts and gathering knowledge based on the answer of psychic medium leadership.
Success in the psychic medium field hinges on your balance with personal lessons and those of your clients. Understanding you are part of an awakening collective, and you also have the role of leading the collective. Creating boundaries in the work as you rest and create pleasure in your life. Because frequency is important in our work, making sure your frequency is steadfast and clear to align with the akashic data necessary to help your client is compulsory. What you can see, hear, feel, and access is based on how much healing and self-care you create for yourself.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
My resources tend to be Spirits and people. An honorable mention will be “Emergent Strategy” by adrienne maree brown. Learning how to flow with strategy through concepts of nature felt like a homecoming to my soul. I’ve used this text as a praxis for community safety work.
People who influenced work this past year with their Spirit, words, energy, and connection will be my ancestors. Hearing them is a wonderful deep balm. Learning about my lineage through Akashic accounts impacted my work and entrepreneurial thinking. What I learned is moving slowly and methodically is anti-westernized culture and pro-indigenous reintegration. The revolution in my business starts with nature alignment. Nature is our eldest ancestor.
Other folks who are beautiful pieces of the journey include my fiancee Omiyale Christen Smiley and her ancestors. To have additional lineages equally invested in our collective journey is the sweetest gift. Omiyale is my protector and in-house empath. All decisions are discussed with her and the knowledge she has access to is otherworldly. Saenya McBeam for the akashic sharing, Indigenous Priest Oluwo Ategbe Obidiran Obaluaye and his late father Oba Sanponna, Bokono Daniel, the “Seat with the Sisters” crew, HMT NTR Embahra Maat, Haitian Manbo Labelle Deesse Jr, and African Vodoun Mami Priestess and Behumbeza.
My immediate family is always an inspiration and motivation to keep moving forward in my own lane. People who fed me in meaningful and life-changing ways impacting my philosophy are Ukimah Plumer, Ahkia Veshay, past/present mentees, and some beautiful Durhamites like Germane James and Omisade-Burney Scott. Special shout out to all of the community elders I’ve had the opportunity to love like Austinites Helen Miller and Bertha Jones. Elder Annette Exum your phone calls and affirmations give me life in the morning. Each person has significantly impacted my perspective, work, thinking, and communal senses.
Books help me craft strategy, people help me craft communal philosophy.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ericaxavierbeauvoir.com
- Instagram: @thespiritualgeneral
- Facebook: Erica Xavier-Beauvoir