The logo for Empowerment for the Soul - a hawk flying in front of the sun - first appeared in the mind's eye of Dianne Elizabeth Conner while she was receiving energy therapy in early 1996. The hawk reappeared more and more frequently as she began to connect more strongly with the energy of the Creator's Light and Love, so when she founded Empowerment for the Soul in1999 she recreated it for the logo. She eventually learned that the hawk is considered a messenger in Native American tradition and Horus, who had the head of a hawk, represented the ancient Egyptian sun god. Like the dove in Christianity and the eagle in Native American tradition, the hawk is a visionary, guardian and leader coming directly from God to inspire others.

Dianne Elizabeth Conner

Dianne is a messenger for peace and joyful prosperity. Her multifaceted life contributes to her cultivated consciousness and wide range of tools. She was wife, mother, artist, gardener, community leader, world traveler and administrator before she completed her dream to receive a college degree - graduating Magna Cum Laude from Greater Hartford Community College in 1989, and with honors from Wesleyan University in1992 (with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history). Shortly afterward, her health declined into debilitating Environmental Illness (now known as MARS -multiple allergic response syndrome) as her husband's health continued to deteriorate from long-term heart disease. In early1995 her husband died and the following year, a fire destroyed their home. The knowledge and wisdom gained from these and other challenges taught her to appreciate the intricate connection between her emotions, her thoughts and her health - and that she was a co-creator of her life.

Dianne's challenges and her search for their meaning led her to become a wholistic minister. She officially began her study of holistic health in 1995 after receiving group-energy healing for chronic illness. She eventually became certified in several hands-on-healing modalities, and necessitated by MARS (especially its accompanying multiple food sensitivities), she concurrently began an avid study of nutrition - focusing on unusual foods and how her body reacted to them. Her illness also necessitated deepening her own introspection, and she discovered that her loss of faith in God, respect for Nature and the underlying sense of lack that caused them, had all played a major role in her health and her life. (Raised Roman Catholic, she had become an agnostic, then tried several religions, none of which was broad enough.) When she knew deep within that she must become a minister, she renewed her search for God.

A 1996 journey to Egypt with the Association of Research and Enlightenment gave Dianne life-altering experiences - the most important of which were a vivid, multi-sensory past-life recall while in Gaza and an exceptionally inspiring one after returning home. She was soon guided to the Universal Brotherhood* Movement and Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, becoming certified in Holistic Health Teacher training in August 1998, and an ordained UB interfaith minister in November. Most important for her own emotional and spiritual development, she studied Women's Spirituality at Hartford Seminary and graduated from its Women's Leadership Institute a year later. While living in Hartford during 1999-2000 Dianne served as a board member for the New England Women Ministers Association (NEWMA) and the Greater Hartford Holistic Health Association (now the Connecticut Holistic Health Association), and as a columnist for NaturalNetworker. Dianne became a minister director for the Universal Brotherhood Movement and later traveled to Sedona Arizona where she experienced personal transformation of body, mind and spirit.

Dianne's journey continued as she moved to Someday Farm in Killingworth, Connecticut, a scenic working horse farm where the Hammonasset Indians once lived and held sacred ceremonies. Here, as part of a spiritual community dedicated to Mother Earth Spirituality, she has her home office and continues joyful work that includes leading edible-weed walks and studying indigenous healing methods. She has office hours in Avon, where she is affiliated with Complementary HealthCare Institute at Saint Francis Care, and at Facilitated Healing Center in Cromwell, both in Connecticut. Dianne has been a guest lecturer on local radio and television talk shows concerning holistic health.

MY PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

I pledge Allegiance to my Body

and to the Sacredness for which It stands

One Creation

Indivisible from Creator

with Awareness, Compassion and Love

for My Self and for All My Relations*.

We Are All One.

*Note from Dianne: The term Brotherhood refers to the family of all life, including Nature. As a Universal Brotherhood Movement (UBM) minister, I accept the oneness of all life, respect all faiths that are based on unconditional, non-judgmental compassion and love, and reach out to all with mutual respect. UBM is not a church or religion and I do not hold religious services. Lectures, workshops and private sessions are my services and my service. My Ph.D. thesis (in process) is based on my health-and-spirituality workshop initially titled "Craving Sweetness: The Intricate Connection between Love, Sexuality, Spirituality and Eating". It will be published later in the year.

**Founded in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1983, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health is one of the largest and most reputable yoga and holistic health centers in the country, if not the world.