Dear friends of Carolyn Conger,
It is with great sadness that we announce Carolyn's departure from her earthly body. She passed on the morning of June 23, 2023, in Santa Monica, California, surrounded by a circle of family and friends.
Carolyn Conger was born in Long Beach, CA, and spent her childhood in Caracas, Venezuela. She later returned to California, where she completed her doctoral work in psychology. After walking away from her career as a parole officer for juveniles in Los Angeles, she moved to Apple Valley, CA, where she regularly hosted workshops in her desert home. She moved to Santa Monica in 1990, where she lived until her death. Throughout her years of teaching, she took groups around the world to study with healers from many cultures and traditions.
Carolyn was a friend and teacher to countless people over her incredible 82 years, and we will miss her more than words can express. She was a person of generosity, kindness, wisdom, humor, tenacity, and brilliance who modeled an approach to the world characterized by humility. She refused to separate spiritual principles and life practices and found humor and joy even in the darkest of circumstances. Over her many years of counseling others, she led many through the process of dying, helping them to find their way home. She was an inspiration to many, and what she inspired in us was the ability to develop our own talents. With her as our guide, we explored creativity, intuition, psychological realities, dreamwork, tarot, energy healing, movement, and many other modalities for personal and transpersonal growth.
Carolyn will be remembered as the rare kind of teacher who, instead of telling us who and how we should be, opened space for us to decide these questions for ourselves. She shared the tools that had allowed her to reconnect with the possibilities inherent in our being that are usually drowned out by the noise of modern life.
How refreshing and life-giving it was to meet such wisdom in the lovely human form that was Carolyn. As one long-time friend and student shared, “I have never known her to shout wisdom, but rather quietly arrange for us to trip over it ourselves so we might claim it for our own.” Others offered this invitation:
Holding Carolyn in your heart
Your very own unique rituals
Light candles, sing, dance
** We welcome your stories and photos of Carolyn for use on the website and at the memorial gathering. You may comment below, post to the message board, or you may email your submissions to memorial@carolynconger.com
Dear Carolyn,
You changed the course of my life when Hal Stone told me I absolutely must meet you in 1979. From the moment we met, you were a cherished old friend and mentor to me -- and for so many years, until you left this earth. Thank you for being god-mother to my son, and helping him find his way for years. Thank you for always coming to my conferences in Sun Valley with 30 eager students, or wherever we took them into the Sawtooth Mountains. You contributed so much to so many of our friends' lives and enriched our community with our Rocky Mt retreats for a week immersing ourselves in your deep knowledge and guidance on healing,…
A Radiance of Love to you Beloved Carolyn! I met Carolyn at Sky Hi Ranch March 9 1980 for a 7 day healing retreat at 26, a true initiation Into the Unconditional Love and Healing Presence she personified. Carolyn embodied a rare essence, radiating love, joy, an incredible lightness of BEing. I was honoured to assist her at many conferences from Sky Hi, to Apple Valley,Idaho++, such precious moments! In 1990 I led a Sacred Journey for Carolyn to Bali & Borneo that was stellar! She returned with groups to my Sacred Mountain Sanctuary Bali often. Our octagon river Villa I renamed Villa Carolyn, for it WAS her Villa. A highlight of my US journeys were treasured times at Carolyn’…
I met Carolyn for a private session in 1999 or 2000, before meeting Brugh, who seemed too "weird". I had two dreams or nightmares and I just wanted to know the meaning of the two dreams immediately and found her in Santa Monica while I was living between LA and Hong Kong at the time. It was Carolyn's sensitivity and tenderness which helped me to open up. I still remember vividly the way she said it, ever so softly, "You know, people say everyone in the dream is dreamer." While I was totally taken aback by her statement, her being was just so loving, without any judgement. It was not an easy session for me. It was like a murd…
Carolyn was one of my best friends in this lifetime. I met her when Brugh first began teaching at Sky Hi Ranch. I had stopped working to be the handyman and hang out with Brugh. Carolyn occupied the only available small room by the kitchen and helped do the cooking and dishes. Brugh would then introduce her as the magnificent being, teacher, gifted psychic that she was. Participants would often have an epiphany about how they had treated the hired help. Carolyn and I grew very close at that time, often talking long into the night about our common interest in things metaphysical, philosophical, and sometimes very personal. Her wisdom healed my treasured wounds and changed my life as much…
I met Carolyn when I was 8 years old - I'm now 65. It was the mid 1960's. She lived in Venice Beach in a lovely, spare, airy above-garage apartment just steps from the beach. It's very clear to me. She and my father worked together in LA probation and became friends. Carolyn was often included in the times when I visited my dad. He recalled that the first time I met Carolyn and we walked the beach, I took her hand and we strolled along - leaving him behind. I imagine him watching us, smiling. It occured to me that Carolyn was the one human on the planet who had known me the longest. With her expansive sensing, she…