Interview with Dr. Petra Schneider

Running a company with help from the spiritual world

As a company, LichtWesen is now 19 years old and it has grown enormously. How do you personally take stock of the current situation?
I could not have imagined how much the company would grow and how many people would start using LichtWesen products. LichtWesen started very slowly. Initially our products were only of interest to people who were already interested in spirit beings. There was only limited acceptance for what we produce and most people thought I had a screw loose somewhere. Then word of mouth led to more people being aware of LichtWesen: they heard of us from their natural health practitioner or through people doing yoga and meditation.

Initially you sold essences, and this then developed into a company with a wide range of products and seminars. What led to this huge expansion in what you offer?
The next steps arose from desperately trying to meet the needs of our customers. Many were keen to find out more about the spiritual world, so this led to writing books. Others wanted to have guided meditations, so I decided to offer these in the form of CDs and then seminars, too. As far as essences are concerned, nowadays there are many different companies in the market. We were among the first and in many ways helped to prepare a field. More and more people are becoming willing to try out ethereal products. Even pharmacists and doctors – people with a scientific background – are using essences themselves and in their work. This demonstrates that the time has come for offers which the “normal person” can use, which is why we now have products and carrier substances which transport the energetic frequency in a different way - such as jewellery or our energised angel.

Meanwhile you now dispatch your products around the world and in countries such as Turkey and Switzerland there are wholesalers with exclusive distribution rights. How did LichtWesen gain this popularity outside of Germany?
Simply because people from those countries approached us, including wholesalers who asked to include our products in their catalogues. We did not carry out any sales activities. In fact, I really had no clue about running a company since I was previously a civil servant and did not think commercially at all. Nonetheless, right from the start it was important for me to treat my clients respectfully and harmoniously and my staff, too. I wanted to create a positive atmosphere within the company so that the staff would be happy to come to work every day. It was also important to ensure high quality and make our products from fairly traded, environment-friendly materials, if possible sourced within Europe. I simply wanted to do the best I could in every regard.

If it was never your intention to start a business, what is actually your background?
I am a graduate agricultural engineer. So I completed a very “earthy” natural sciences degree and even today I still have a very scientific way of thinking. I also grew up in my family’s agricultural business. In other words, my training was “grounded” even though I now work with very high vibrations. My logical, critical mind is still very active. This is why I have never given up trying to understand and demonstrate the effects of ethereal energies.

So how do you explain the way these energised products work?
If we take TCM as a basis with its insights into energy bodies, meridians and acupuncture points, then the effects become explicable. We are also looking for test procedures which will help to prove the effects: these have to be measurable processes beyond simple anecdotes or individual experiences. They will involve surveys and feedback from users. Gerhard Pieroth, co-founder and co-owner of LichtWesen also graduated in the sciences and worked in business administration and engineering at IBM before he discovered ethereal products and their effects – for both of us this happened due to a personal crisis. For me it was initially Bach Flower remedies and Reiki: I was fascinated by the way they worked and at the same time I seemed to have some abilities with both of them.

How does your scientific mind come to terms with these insights into spirit beings and their powers?
The scientist within me has doubts every now and again. That is why I place such an importance in being able to verify their effects and gaining feedback from users. And then when this scientist takes the system of meridians and energies as the model to explain it all, then she can cast away her doubts. It all becomes comprehensible and there is no hocus pocus any more. The spirit beings I am speaking about and whose effects are to be found in our products are powers in the universe who have been given names by us humans. It is similar to Bohr’s model of the atom, which splits atoms into protons, neutrons and ions and paints a picture of all of them as tiny little balls. Even though this picture does not accurately portray reality the model still helps us to understand. In the same way, we humans have always tended to paint pictures of the powers of Creation so we can understand. Current science cannot yet prove the existence of these powers and therefore generally rejects their existence, even though many people have experienced their effects. There are numerous examples in the history of science where explanations were suddenly found for things people laughingly dismissed before. At some point Columbus found enough confidence to travel even further beyond the horizon although most people warned him he would fall off of the edge of the world.

Finally, can you give us a rough idea what is special about spiritual entrepreneurship? What are its special qualities? How is it different from running a company in a normal way?
The significant difference at LichtWesen and in the way I run the company is that I go beyond normal knowledge and incorporate the energetic powers when it comes to making decisions, taking the next steps and general management. It was fairly late in the day when I learned about marketing and book-keeping but even before that I had still taken the right decisions for the company because I always followed the impetus I received when connected to the higher consciousness – I would not have been able to justify this with my normal rational mind. That was and is more than just “gut feeling”. It comes from a higher consciousness which I can connect to quite deliberately by meditating. And from these levels I can receive the necessary information and tips.

So for people who are following a spiritual path, you can show them how to use these techniques for their own benefit or to help their companies?
Yes, that was the first group of people I worked with on this issue – apart from my own staff. If you want to know more about it my DVD has just been published: “How a camel can actually pass through the eye of a needle. Spiritual techniques for success”. Its primary target group is people who are already on a spiritual path and who want to run their companies correspondingly. And I also publish a newsletter on the topic of “Spirituality and Success” – you can subscribe at LichtWesen.

What about traditional companies that have never looked into spirituality and the spirit world? Let us assume they are willing to try using your methods: Can they make use of the techniques for spiritual company management even if they have never meditated before and have no direct connection to the spiritual world?
Yes, it is possible. My intention is to offer coachings for what we could call “worldly” companies who are willing to incorporate these energetic methods and try them out. There are standardised methods they can use. And then I would work together with each firm to develop customised techniques for spiritual company management.