Colette Baron-Reid
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Colette Baron-Reid (born 1958) is a Canadian writer, public speaker, and self-proclaimed
spiritual medium Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...
and
oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...
expert.


Early life

Baron-Reid was born in
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario, Canada. Her mother was a French, German, and Polish homemaker, and her Serbian father was a wealthy Toronto
land developer Land development is the alteration of landscape in any number of ways, such as: * Changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing * Subdividing real estate into lots, typically for the purpo ...
and engineer. Baron-Reid attended
Havergal College Havergal College is a private day and boarding school for girls from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school was established in 1894 and named for Frances Ridley Havergal, a composer, author and humanitarian. The ...
for women in Toronto. She claimed to have her first experience with
clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...
at three years old and continued to have similar experiences, in the form of dreams or glimpses of the past or future, as she got older.


Career

Baron-Reid ran away from her home when she was 18 years old, first joining a
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
band and then moving on to various other bands. She received various deals for records or management, all of which ultimately failed. At 28 years old, she eventually "bottomed out" after ten years performing in bars and nightclubs, and she began going to a women's treatment centre for an alcohol and
cocaine addiction Cocaine dependence is a neurological disorder that is characterized by withdrawal symptoms upon cessation from cocaine use. It also often coincides with cocaine addiction which is a biopsychosocial disorder characterized by persistent use of ...
. After becoming sober, she began practicing
aromatherapy Aromatherapy is a practice based on the use of aromatic materials, including essential oils and other aroma compounds, with claims for improving psychological well-being. It is used as a complementary therapy or as a form of alternative medic ...
and seeing clients to speak about visions she claimed to have experienced about them. In 1998, she published a tape on meditation, ''Journey Through The Chakra'', which was reviewed by the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
''; around this time, she described feeling as if there were no more opportunities for her as a musician. Baron-Reid was asked to appear in a documentary on
spiritualists Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at least ...
in the late 1990s, which led her to meet record producer
Eric Rosse Eric Ivan Rosse is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and mixer. Rosse started playing piano at age 8, eventually studying orchestration and arranging with Joe Rotundi, Sr. His style is influenced by soul, rock, art pop, and cl ...
, who was the film's composer. She then met with the record label
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
to ask to work with Rosse. She released two records with EMI: ''Magdalene's Garden'' (2001), produced by Rosse, and ''I Am/Grace''. The first album was described by the ''Calgary Herald'' as an "ambitious
soft-pop Sunshine pop, originally called soft pop and soft rock, is a loosely defined form of pop music that was first associated with early soft rock producers and songwriters based in Los Angeles, California, during the mid-to late 1960s. Its studio-ce ...
album inspired by the likes of
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
,
Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album ...
, and
Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...
and incorporating a potpourri of musical styles." In 2006, her contract was terminated, after which she decided to pursue a career as an author and public speaker. She authored her first book, ''Remembering The Future'' (2006), on her experience dealing with
substance addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can a ...
. Her next novel was ''The Map'' (2010). She published a dieting book, ''Weight Loss for People Who Feel Too Much'', in 2013; by this time she had made appearances on the talk shows ''
Dr. Phil Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), also known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author who is best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased ...
'', ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...
'', and '' The Dr. Oz Show''; was an opening act for shows by her publisher,
Hay House Hay House is a publisher founded in 1984 by author  Louise Hay, who is known for her books on New Thought. ''The New York Times'' dubbed Hay "The Queen of the New Age," noting that she became "one of the bestselling authors in ...
; and was working as a columnist and blogger for '' Zoomer'' magazine. In a 2015 ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...
'' magazine article, Toronto realtor Gillian Oxley, who was quoted as earning around $100 million in yearly sales, attributed her success to her coaching sessions with Baron-Reid since 2013. In 2015, Baron-Reid's sold-out show at the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...
was met with protestors from the Society of Edmonton Atheists, who said that communication with the dead is impossible and urged patrons to be more skeptical of these claims. Speaking with author Amal Awad about
cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...
in the
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
industry for Awad's 2021 book, Baron-Reid stated: "I faced my own biases and came to realise how I was participating in a harmful system". She said she had hired two coaches specialising in diversity, inclusivity, and
anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...
, and also examined her own influences, leading her to address Native American imagery in current and future publications and request her publisher, Hay House, to amend the publications.


Personal life

Baron-Reid was living with her husband in New Hampshire by 2013. Her husband has helped manage her business ventures.


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Discography

* ''Magdalene's Garden'' (2001, EMI Music Canada) * ''I Am/Grace'' (2005, EMI Music Canada) * ''Journey Through The Chakras'' (2007, Hay House) * ''Messages from Spirit 4-CD: Exploring Your Connection to Divine Guidance'' (2008, Hay House)


Notes


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baron-Reid, Colette 1958 births Canadian motivational speakers Canadian psychics Canadian women radio personalities Canadian self-help writers Canadian spiritual mediums Canadian occult writers Living people Singers from Toronto Writers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women singers Canadian radio personalities Women motivational speakers