As a child growing up in Kansas, Ann Bolinger-McQuade was mildly intrigued with the idea of having Native American ancestors, but she never considered her heritage relevant to her life. She took for granted her family’s innate comfort with the supernatural. Aunt Evie, for instance, her hero and mentor, had a psychic connection. Although most of Kansas had never heard of Edgar Cayce, Ann perceived her aunt’s abilities as perfectly normal. Nor did she find it unusual when her family associated the timely appearances of a cardinal with the comforting presence of an uncle who had recently died. Often, her father would stop conversation to explain the meaning he had found in a particular shape, be it something in nature or in the piece of toast he was eating. Indeed, Ann grew up in a world filled with metaphor and meaning, a world that became the basis for her passion and her life work. She is grateful for her paternal great grandmother’s Native American influence that she has come to realize is ingrained in every part of her being.

The idea of ancestral imprints only occurred to her after a series of personal events sent her hurtling onto what she describes as an invisible moving sidewalk. (Imagine the people carriers found in airports.) Ann believes that at certain times we all land on such a sidewalk, which carries us to a certain destination. Her sidewalk transported her to a place where oracles that had been hiding in plain sight seemed to magically appear at exactly the right time to guide and comfort her. Ann began paying close attention to the ways that Spirit works in her life and in the lives of others. During the last twenty-five years she has documented her spiritual experiences and is now sharing her messages and teachings with others.

Ann’s curiosity and passion for discovering the hidden–obvious has fueled her work. The spiritual communities in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico have supported her for the past three decades. Before becoming a full time author in 1999, her career path included advertising and sales, writing for a trade publication in the fashion industry in Dallas and later, owning a small business in California. In 2003, because of her Native American ancestry, and in support of her pending book, Cloud-Speak: Oracles in the Sky, the Native American Church of North America honored Ann and her husband, Kenneth, by performing a Native American ceremony for them on their land in New Mexico. Ann and Kenneth currently reside in Tucson.

For the many blessings in her life, she gives thanks.