From Childhood Wonder to Cosmic Community: My Life Journey 

From Childhood Wonder to Cosmic Community: My Life Journey Through UFOs, Spirituality, and New Age Consciousness

By Crystal

On July 6th, I had the honour of being a featured guest on the podcast The Light Gate, hosted by Dolly Safran and Preston Dennett. During our conversation, we explored the roots of my lifelong interest in UFOs, aliens, spirituality, esoteric knowledge, and New Age consciousness. More importantly, we spoke about the person who first opened that door for me: my mother.

My journey into the cosmic and spiritual world did not begin with a book, a lecture, or a single dramatic event. It began in childhood, in the quiet and powerful influence of a mother who was curious, searching, and willing to look beyond the boundaries of the world she had been given.

My mother introduced me to Star Trek: The Original Series when I was young, and in many ways, that show became one of my earliest gateways into the stars. Through Star Trek, I was introduced to the idea of space not as something distant and unreachable, but as something alive with possibility. It opened my imagination to other worlds, other civilizations, and the idea that humanity might one day take its place within a much larger cosmic family.

That early love of science fiction laid the foundation for my interest in space, UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and the great mysteries of the universe. But my mother did not only introduce me to the stars through television and film. She also introduced me to spirituality, religion, meditation, and the deeper questions of human consciousness.

After my parents divorced, my mother made the courageous decision to return to university. She studied Social Work as her major, but she also chose Religious Studies as her minor. Although she had been raised as a Christian Seventh-day Adventist, she had a deeply curious mind and an open heart. University exposed her to new religions, new philosophies, and new ways of understanding the human soul. That experience opened up her world — and through her, it opened up mine as well.

As a young girl, I often accompanied my mother to her religion classes. Like many single parents, she did not always have the option of paying for a babysitter, so she brought me with her. At the time, I did not realize what a gift this was. While other children my age were playing with dolls, I was sitting in university classrooms, listening to discussions about world religions, spiritual traditions, sacred texts, and the many ways human beings have searched for meaning.

Those early experiences gave me a profound appreciation for other religions and spiritual paths. They taught me that truth is not always found in one place, one book, one culture, or one tradition. They taught me to listen, to question, and to honour the many ways people reach toward the divine.

My mother also brought me to meditation centres and ashrams. As a child, I was chanting and meditating long before I fully understood what those practices meant. But something within me recognized the sacredness of those spaces. I understood, even then, that there was more to life than the physical world we could see with our eyes.

As I grew older, the esoteric education continued. My mother discovered astrology and the Tarot, and these became a normal part of my life. While some people might have seen these subjects as unusual, in our home they were simply part of the conversation. Astrology, Tarot, meditation, spiritual study, and intuitive exploration were run of the mill for me. They were not strange or frightening. They were tools for reflection, insight, and connection.

Together, my mother and I also explored Wicca and white magic. I was introduced to Kabbalah, angel work, and other mystical traditions. These teachings expanded my understanding of spirituality even further. They helped me see that the unseen world is rich, layered, and deeply interconnected.

At the same time, my mother and I shared a lifelong interest in UFOs and aliens. We would go out of our way to watch documentaries on television about UFO sightings, extraterrestrial encounters, and unexplained phenomena. As a teenager, we went to science fiction films together, continuing the thread that had begun with Star Trek in my childhood.

Looking back now, I can see how all of these pieces were connected. The science fiction, the religious studies, the meditation centres, the Tarot cards, the UFO documentaries, the angel work, the astrology, the conversations about aliens — all of it formed the foundation of who I would become.

Then, in June of 2024, when the original host of the group stepped away, I took the helm. I re-christened the group as The Starseeds and Lightworkers Collective and created a home base for it on Meetup.com. What began as a small online gathering became a growing spiritual and cosmic community.

Today, The Starseeds and Lightworkers Collective has grown to more than 3.78K subscribers and continues to expand. It now has a permanent home on YouTube and Facebook through Quantum Portals, where every Wednesday we gather to explore subjects that span the horizons of UFOs, aliens, astrology, esoterica, consciousness, spirituality, ancient mysteries, healing, and the awakening of humanity.

We also hold monthly Discussion Groups, creating space for members of the community to come together, share, learn, ask questions, and connect with others walking a similar path. These gatherings are not simply events. They are bridges. They are portals. They are reminders that none of us are walking this path alone.

Being interviewed on The Light Gate gave me an opportunity to reflect on how far this journey has come. It reminded me that Quantum Portals is not just a podcast or a YouTube channel. It is the continuation of a lifelong path — one that began with my mother, with curiosity, with courage, and with the willingness to explore the unknown.

My mother opened the door for me. She taught me, by example, that it is okay to ask questions. It is okay to look beyond the surface. It is okay to explore the stars, the soul, the sacred, and the mysterious. She showed me that spirituality is not something that must remain confined within one tradition, and that the search for truth can take us into classrooms, temples, meditation centres, movie theatres, UFO groups, and eventually, into community.

In many ways, Quantum Portals is an extension of that inheritance. It is a place where people can explore the mysteries of the cosmos and the mysteries of the soul. It is a place where UFOs and consciousness can be spoken about with openness, curiosity, and respect. It is a place where community comes first.

And perhaps most importantly, it is a place where we continue building bridges — between people, between ideas, between spiritual traditions, between experiencers, between the human story and the cosmic story.

I am deeply grateful to Dolly Safran and Preston Dennett for welcoming me onto The Light Gate and giving me the chance to share this part of my journey. It was not only an interview. It was a reflection on where I came from, why this work matters, and how one mother’s curiosity helped spark a lifelong journey into the mysteries of the universe.

What made this interview especially meaningful is that it took place on July 6th — my mother’s birthday.

As I reflected on her influence during the conversation, I could not help but feel the deep emotional significance of that timing. My mother has passed, and I still miss her deeply. Yet even now, her presence continues to shape my life. Her curiosity, her courage, her spiritual searching, and her willingness to look beyond the ordinary world still live on through me. Her story is still moving through me.....and for this, I am eternally grateful.

In many ways, Quantum Portals is part of her legacy. Every time I explore a spiritual subject, welcome a guest, hold space for experiencers, or build community around the mysteries of UFOs, consciousness, and the unseen world, I am continuing a path that she helped open.

She may no longer be here in physical form, but her influence has never left me. It is alive in the work I do, in the questions I ask, in the community I am helping to build, and in every doorway I continue to walk through.

The path began in childhood.

It continues through Quantum Portals.

And the journey is still unfolding.