Reverend Janet Nohavec, a former Catholic nun, believes that she was visited by her late grandfather when she was a small child.
“I used to see people who were dead,” said Nohavec from the office of the church that she founded in 1996, The Journey Within, in Wayne last week.
However, this gift was discouraged by her mother, who was a devout Catholic.
“I was told that it was something to be feared, that it wasn’t okay,” said Nohavec. “[The gift] was kind of put on a shelf after that.”
However, after leaving the Sisters of Charity Convent, Nohavec has been able to share her gift with the public. Hudson County residents were able to contact their loved ones last week when Nohavec held a seminar at Guttenberg’s Galaxy Mall on Sept. 23.
Seeing Spirits
Does anyone really know what happens after we die? Depending on one’s religion, one may believe in reincarnation and some also may believe in heaven and hell. But does anyone actually know?
Nohavec believes that mediumship proves that there is life after death.
“Mediumship means communicating with people who have passed on,” said Nohavec. “It is proof of the continuation of life.”
“I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that people don’t die,” added Nohavec. “They are just searching.” Many people who do not believe in mediums have found that they believe that Nohavec truly does talk to their deceased loved ones.
According to Nohavec, one older man once said of her, “God, she told me things my wife doesn’t even know.”
Nohavec said, “You would have to be talking to someone deceased to get the information we get.”
Nohavec studied her practice in England and also teaches it to others.
“I believe that everyone is psychic to a certain extent,” said Nohavec. “Reality just doesn’t encourage it. For credible mediums, this is a life study. It’s a passion in their lives.”
Nohavec believes that credible mediums work ethically and responsibly, unlike other mediums without the knowledge base.
Besides contacting lost loved ones, Nohavec can also tell the future, she said.
“Some people want to know what is coming up for them,” said Nohavec. “Some people reach places in their lives where they have to make decisions.”
Developing her gift
The five years that Nohavec spent in the Sisters of Charity Convent proved to be very beneficial to Nohavec. “I literally heard a voice that said you are going to be a Catholic nun,” said Nohavec.
But Nohavec said she does not even consider herself Catholic anymore since she founded The Journey Within, a center for spiritual evolvement.
“It is almost like being a pioneer in modern times,” said Nohavec.
While The Journey Within is not the first of its kind, it is the first spiritual church to be affiliated with the Spiritualist National Union in England, where spiritualism is very strong.
The Journey Within is a Spiritualist Church that allows people of all faiths to attend.
“I would say that 80 percent of the people that see me are Catholic,” said Norhavec. “I think maybe it is because I used to be a Catholic nun, they think that I am okay.”
Although Nohavec did add, “In the Catholic Church I am probably evil or something.”
The Journey Within currently rents space for their services now; however, they hope to be able to buy a white steeple church in the future.
For more information or to schedule a private setting, call 973-616-9685.