Monica McDowell has the distinction of being the first ordained minister in the United States granted civil rights by a federal court. Her first book My Karma Ran Over My Dogma: Lessons Learned by a Whistle-Blowing Minister Turned Mystic (2007) is a narrative of her journey through these precedent setting legal events into life changing mysticism and a luminous spirituality. A dynamic and inspirational speaker Monica regularly holds workshops classes and retreats for budding mystics and emergent healers in Seattle and the greater Pacific Northwest. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary with an emphasis in spiritual care and counseling and she is the founder of Women's Sanctuary which offers inter spirituality gatherings for women of all faiths. She has been a minister and mind body spirit energy healer for many years.