Selah: It’s complicated

Mandie McGlynn studying with SVARA at Queer Talmud Camp. She is wearing pink glasses, lipstick, and shirt, with teal earrings. She is smiling and looking to the side, and she is framed by a rainbow in the background. 
soul searching wonder chasing 
magic making car dancing 
art dreaming star gazing
challah baking tarot reading
geeky nerdy 
type writing sacred seeking 
mystery loving justice striving 
change making tarot reading 
queer poly 40-something femme

Hi! I’m Mandie McGlynn. I use she/her pronouns, and I love typewriters, new notebooks, good coffee, bad puns, and the Oxford comma. Also, probably you. ♡

When I converted to Judaism and had the opportunity to choose a Hebrew name, I went with one that felt as complicated as me: Selah.

Selah is a term that shows up mostly in the Psalms, and its meaning is debated and/or unknown. Selah has been variously understood to be a musical notation to pause (as for breath), an instruction to reflect on what has just been said, related to the word “to hang/weigh,” or to lift up and praise. These different meanings feel pretty much like who I am as a person, and definitely represent how I approach my work as a spiritual companion. Thus, Selah Spiritual Care was born.

I grew up in an evangelical Christian family, and after stops in paganism, agnosticism, and Unitarian Universalism, I found my home in the world of reverent study, arguing as a form of devotion, and good bagels—aka Judaism. Because I’m a mystical type, I’m particularly drawn to the Jewish renewal movement (good music!), and to Jewitchery (earth based Jewish practice!). I incorporate Tarot into my personal practice and my spiritual direction work.

While there are no standard credentials for Spiritual Guides, I am a member of Spiritual Directors International, have a Master of Divinity degree from Chicago Theological Seminary (where I wrote my master’s thesis on spiritual care for the nonreligious) and studied Spiritual Guidance with the Spiritual Guidance Training Institute.

I live just outside of Chicago in Skokie, IL with my two partners, three neuro- and gender-diverse teens, and two little dogs.

Image of two small dogs (Selah Spiritual Care mascots??) looking into the camera. On the right is a brindle-brown cardigan corgie/terrier mix dog named Jackie; on the right a black and white fluffball named Zipporah, an Alaskan Klee Kai.

I am particularly passionate about accompanying

  • members of the queer/poly/kink/LGBTQIA+ community seeking spiritual support, especially those who have been harmed by interactions with religious institutions

  • Jews (especially intermarried Jews, Jewish converts and their partners), Jew-ish folks and others looking for more connection to or exploration of Judaism, including secular Jews.

  • those whose sacred texts arise from popular culture, especially those who identify as “spiritual but not religious”

  • people seeking a sacred rhythm as they move through the year

  • exvangelicals and others exploring what it means to them to step away from a tradition that has been important to their life (in positive or negative ways), including those harmed by religious experience

  • anyone searching for authentic language for and connection to divinity

If you are seeking freedom, direction, and a little support while you find your soul’s calling, I hope you will consider working with me.

  • for just this moment

    you didn’t worry

    whether you were enough

    ((or too much))

  • just for this moment

    you listened to your body

    and what it was asking of you

  • you responded with kindness

    instead of questioning

    whether you deserve it

    whether you’ve earned it

    whether there is something else

    you should be doing

    someone else

    you should be taking care of

    instead?

  • for this one breath

    you did nothing more than breathe?