Information Processing and Retrieval

How do you receive the information from spirit?  This has been a recurring question over the years from those who have had private readings or watched mediumship being demonstrated on a public platform (whether the medium was myself or somebody else).  It’s a question which I – being the left-brained analytical kind of guy – have given a lot of examination to.  This post isn’t going to answer with the standard “It’s in the ‘clairs’ – clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience” – though those do play a part.  My goal has always been to understand it from a larger perspective, to which the “clairs” then break it down.  As with anything, this is an ongoing process, a continuous journey, and no doubt perceptions will change as new information is brought to light.  Here’s what I have learned so far.  Though this may sound simple (which it is), there’s still a lot to it.

 Intuition is the process for which messages come into the context of one’s consciousness.  By paying attention to the inner sensations brought about by intuition, one can become “in tune” with energies and information not perceived outside in the objective world, nor rationalized by the logical mind. 

Historically, the mind has been where most confusion and inner struggle has been fought when it comes to spiritual communication.  It is a losing battle.  On some level, the desire to receive clear messages from the Other Side speaks to the brain being able to decode the packets of information sent by those in spirit.  Though this is a true statement, the error is in perceiving the mind as having the primary functionality within this process.  In reality, the mind is not the one in charge; rather, it is subordinate to the intuitive self.   

Indeed, the mind does unravel the images, sounds, and feelings which are piped through the intuitive self, but it is not in the focus of the mind where these ingredients originate.  Intuition goes much further than the brain and encompasses the aura and subtle bodies – something quite outside the scope of the physical matter lodged inside our skulls. 

When approaching readings, one needs to “get out of the head” for it is “in the head” where he or she most likely spends the bulk of one’s time navigating the jungles of time and space in the here and now objective world.  Thus, normal everyday “in the head” focus must, to a certain degree, be abandoned in order to “tune in” to other energies.  The shift is to move out of reliance on the brain and onto the reliance of the intuitive self. 

Intuition requires an entirely different set of faculties to be engaged than simply thinking and wandering around inside the mind.  Intuition connects you with the environment; it reaches out into the subtle vibrations and energies coursing around and through you.  And when one can focus their awareness into their intuition, the door to these other realities can be cracked open and engaged.

“What does my intuition tell me?” is an excellent way to move your mind out of its role of supremacy and into an act of service.  “What does my intuition tell me?” moves your awareness off your physical senses and onto the many senses inherent within the complexity of the intuitive self.  “What does my intuition tell me?” drives your observation off the chatter of the physical mind and into the eternal abode of cosmic consciousness.

It is incredibly difficult to rationalize psychic occurrences because they originate from intuition – a form of perception and communication not well understood by anyone in the 21^st century.  We may discover that we can never pin it down or understand it from a left-brained perspective, for the simple fact that it may be inherently much greater than what logic can comprehend.  The brain loves to use logic like a microscope so as to have a better understanding of things – for if we have a better understanding we can have better odds at controlling whatever it is we are examining.   Unfortunately, intuition may be much larger than what the left-brain can comprehend, thus the notion of control is too far out of reach.  Nay, it may be completely impossible.   

But just because we do not understand it does not mean it isn’t real or that it doesn’t have value.  What we do know is that information outside the normal channels of perception happens – this has been documented time and again.  We know it’s not coming from the jello inside our heads, but from sources outside coming in or by us going outside the body to bring the information back – again, leaving the physical brain behind.  As psychics and mediums, we recognize intuition as being much larger than our minds, though we must trust our minds to be able to process it to the best of our abilities so that our normal consciousness can gain some sort of comprehension. 

But it all starts with intuition. 

And not the brain.

Communicating with Spirits, Part 2

The Greater Picture, The Larger Act of Awareness

Two weeks ago I talked about how, when we take into account 7 billion people on the planet, and how many of those people right now are receiving information from the deceased friends and relatives in spirit, as well as spirit guides, demonstrates that spirit communication is a natural and normal part of our existence in the physical world.

So what does this all mean in the bigger picture?

By the very nature of these interactions, spirits are demonstrating that they desire to communicate with us; that we are not alone and we do not need to fall prey to the limited visions of material existence.  Their messages, unanimously, all speak to the same meaning:  we as spirits are here, we love you, and we can help you – provided that it doesn’t derail you from your own purposes being alive on the earth.  This is in sharp contrast to what we have been told traditionally from fearful ideologies.

The point to all this is simple:  Spirits are co-existing with us.  Granted, while our focus is here in the material world, theirs is focused in the spiritual.  Nevertheless, they interpenetrate this realm all the time, based on the statistics of people interacting and encountering them.  And chances are likely, we interpenetrate their realm, too, if given the proper belief system, knowledge, and conditions.  It is not “foreign” nor is it “wrong” or “against nature.”  It is actually part of nature’s design.  We co-exist with many dimensions – this is a scientific fact. 

Are we supposed to be communicating between the “veils”?  Actually … Yes.  In fact, it’s vitally important that we do.  We are here to experience the breadth of our souls, and part of that magnificence is our ability to transcend the physicality of what we are experiencing in the material world.  In order to learn our lessons, as well as help others learn theirs, we are given the capabilities to engage in this communication to bring forth the guidance and information we sometimes cannot get from the observable, material world.  Especially in a world where love is in lack – it is spirit’s greatest goal to show us that no such lack exists; that the universe is primarily a loving universe, and through love – positivity – we will prevail through our lessons and continue to heighten our souls to our greatest possibilities and potentials.  After all, we were spirit first, and then human … Not the other way around.

The spirits will not harm us; nor will they take over our lives.  On the contrary, they are wanting to help us live better, happier lives ourselves, fulfilled in the knowledge that the greater we become at being a loving, creative spiritual expression, the more it benefits others and combines to create healing and success to so many people, transforming the earthly experience to be a grand state of livelihood in comparison to what it has been in the past.

Historically, such communication was seen to have dire consequences by various superstitious ideologies – repudiation, ridicule, and ultimate death as a “witch.”  So long as the facts remain of people’s own personal experiences with receiving communications (no matter how sparse) from deceased loved ones or angels, then it cannot be denied that such forces are indeed interacting with us, and that we have the ability to receive and understand their communications, given proper conditions.  In addition, so long as traditional books refer to “prophets” or other types of religious people receiving “inspiration” or other angelic visitations (and many of these people were considered “normal” people having a divine experience), then the notion of conversing with “the devil” must be tossed aside as rickety architecture of fear.  Again, spirit isn’t trying to control us or our reality (that would take up too much time and energy and deny the purpose of their own existence), they simply want to help us – as no doubt, we would want to help our loved ones once we have traversed the bridge of death and realized communication back to earth was possible. 

It is time to wash away those belief systems and ways of thinking that deny this.  It is time to ignore and toss out belief systems that say “It isn’t natural.”  Nonsense -- utter nonsense.  It is natural; it is normal -- It was meant-to-be.

Tell yourself – remind yourself often – that you communicate easily with spirit; that it was meant to be from the beginning of humanity’s emergence into the physical realm; it is a part of our core being and heritage.  Don’t ask of yourself “Why cannot I communicate?”  Instead you should be asking “How could I not communicate?  It was meant to be!”  Again we are spirit first and then human.  It’s all about where we choose to place our focus, and hence our energy, creating an environment that makes communication conducive and expectant. 

When it comes to linking with spirit, all you have to do is ask and then BE AWARE.  Trust your senses (which is sometimes easier said than done, I know).  When the time is RIGHT, when the energy and conditions are appropriate, spirit will be there with the messages they wish to convey.  It is what they have been doing for centuries.  No doubt, we will be doing the same thing when we hit the Other Side – reaching back and sending messages to our loved ones still on earth.  It’s going on all over the place RIGHT NOW across this planet.  Accept it and embrace it.  Become a part of it.

The Inner Landscape

Hello, again, everyone! This week’s blog is a mixture of information received during a meditation and the culmination of some research into the psychic “landscape.” We are always curious about where and how psychic information is perceived and received, and while on vacation I chanced upon a book written by a well-respected and researched medium from the 1930’s – 1960’s. She talked about how she was compelled to follow the “inner landscape” which gave her the psychic information she was receiving. Her description of the environment was inspiring and matched often what I have felt when receiving psychic information. So, for the last few weeks, I have focused on the concept “inner landscape” and received some messages about our interaction with it. Hopefully this entry will inspire you to check it out for yourself! Have a great week!

_______________________________________________________

(The details were taken from a meditation and have been re-written in the third person for ease of narrative.)

The ego-mind is engaged mainly in the “upper” portion of perceiving reality, and it’s usually focused on the external part of our experiences – what’s out in front of us in the physical environment – utilizing the standard five senses. The physical body, however, can perceive greater vistas and is not confined to the “beam” of external sights “outside.” In that sense, the inner senses of the physical organism can provide a more holistic and encompassing perception than strictly the ego-mind can, as the ego-mind sifts what it takes in – keeping what it wants and discarding the rest, based on one’s personal beliefs and attitudes.

We have labeled the body’s perceptions and information – that deep inner voice and landscape – as the “subconscious” or “unconscious.” Whether this is actually part of the body or that it is merely accessible by the body’s inner senses, it doesn’t much matter; but we are given a chance to enter into union with this locale. Such designations of “subconscious” or “unconscious” make us think and feel that access to the domain are hidden or somehow “not in view” of our normal conscious minds and requires a great amount of work, mystery, and thus distrust (and dare I say, suspicion?).

This is actually not the case.

It’s not that this inner consciousness is “sub” (meaning below or less-than), or even “un” (meaning “not,” as in “not- conscious” and hence inaccessible); rather, this inner ocean is just the “ignored consciousness.” It is flowing right there in full view, vigor, and splendor – we have just lost touch with acknowledging and honoring it. What’s worse, with the aforementioned designations, we are telling ourselves that it’s really not easily seen, heard, much less understood, so we build up beliefs which amount to barriers that need to be addressed and removed from the ego-mind before coming into its full embrace and receive its wisdom. Well, when you ignore something for so long, that happens …

As mentioned earlier, in the past few weeks I have focused on going deeper into this landscape. What I am discovering is that this inner environment is highly intelligent and detail oriented. That is, I am beginning to believe that it can communicate in finer detail than we do in normal consciousness – it’s not confined by the limitations of language. The work comes in taking time to learn its unique linguistics: the sights, sounds, symbols and feelings it utilizes in presenting information. And since it is holistic, it takes into account an infinite amount of variables that our normal conscious “up there” brain filters out.

This inner landscape is part and parcel of a pervading consciousness field that all life shares – meaning, it is the larger field of knowledge and information that is eternal and all-encompassing in nature. Our personalities burst from this field in the course of a lifetime, and unfortunately, we unwittingly lose sight of it and ignore it for modes of thinking in the “external” world, of which we forget were seeded and birthed from this field in the first place.

This is where information perceived as “psychic” resides. The term “psychic” is again a term that we as a species have created (obviously – we write our own language). At one point in our several hundred thousand year history, the abilities perceived as “mystical, psychic experiences” were a normal part of our everyday lives. We would not have grown out of the Stone Age without them, as they were used to foresee eminent dangers to individual and tribe; to “remote view” where the good hunting grounds were located; to communicate with deceased ancestors for wisdom and guidance. But eventually we turned away from acknowledging and utilizing this inner field and its information in lieu of defining the “out there” experience as being somehow separate and divisible from us, by virtue of its physical appearance and how, at times, it appears to come “at” us rather than “from” us. I guess this could be perceived as the Fall from Grace. Those who remained conscious of the “unconscious” could perceive events as being seeded and grown from this primal well of all creation, but as more and more people took to adopting a new way of thinking and relating to the outside world, the more the inner landscape lost its light, its luster, grew “out-of-focus” until it was finally relegated to being a “sub” portion of our being, instead of the very base of all we are and do. So now, when this inner portion is accessed and its typical information brought forth, it “appears” mysterious, miraculous, or somehow “not normal” (when in fact, it really should be), and hence we have applied the term “psychic” with all its other-worldly connotations.

Nevertheless, this inner landscape is a vital part of everyone. We just have to learn to look within, and upon that glance, dip our toe into the water and decide whether or not we really wish to remain upon the shore or dive in and swim.

‘til next time!

Psychic Mediumship as Relationship

As a left-brain analytical kind of guy, when it comes to psychic functioning, the way I naturally approached it was like looking at parts of an engine: Part A goes into Part B which results in the functionality of C. In many cases, this kind of logic has won out – insights were gained, processes were learned, and development ensued. However, this kind of reasoning cannot account for unknown variables and has, on occasion, been used as a method at trying to find the elusive needles in the parapsychological haystack. Unfortunately, such things are incredibly hard to tease out and I’m still left with not fully understanding how certain functions operate. This ignorance sometimes fills my rational mind with an irrational conclusion of “Since you don’t understand the complete overall mechanism, you cannot perfect the usage of it.” This is like saying, because I don’t understand how the drive shaft of an automobile operates, I shouldn’t be able to drive the darn vehicle.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

In my course to better understand or have a deeper connection and ability with uncovering psychic functions, the first step to gathering such data has always been by going into meditation and letting go of all the expectations, anticipation, and harbored belief systems inside my consciousness that might hinder revelation. By simply stating within myself “I do not know how such-and-such operates,” I can then let go of all things that I might introduce as filters to incoming information. In saying “I do not know,” I must be willing to release any and all barriers and accept that such filters may be the very reason why ignorance has prevailed over knowledge in my humble pursuits.

When it comes to communicating with spirits in the act of mediumship, I have learned a great deal about the process through my own decades-long career, as well as studying the literature of psychic investigators analyzing legitimate mediums going back over a century. Having this information has been truly priceless in understanding the theoretical processes of how information from the deceased is filtered through the medium to delivery for the sitter. But like most psychics (or I at least assume) I am always trying to find the puzzle piece that allows for more information to be revealed … more exacting data to provide greater, deeper, and more detailed communication. In essence, I have been studying the drive-shaft of my vehicle and forgetting that I am already steering the car with my foot on the gas!

Though I consider mediumship a process in terms of entry and understanding of information, it may not necessarily be so left-brain precise as looking at a schematic of a mechanical device. With mediumship, the sender and the receiver – the spirit and myself, respectively – are not machines. We are consciousness. And though sometimes consciousness can behave with a certain degree of predictability like a machine, that doesn’t mean we are cog-and-wheel devices. The act of communication, whether with someone who is deceased or with your best friend who is still alive, isn’t so much about knowing the intricacies of the quantum field network that allows for the vibrations of sound to hit your eardrums or how a frequency produces the sound or imagery deep inside the cortexes of the brain, it is about the relationship you are engaged in.

In talking with a friend, you don’t worry about how your friend transmits his voice and how you’re hearing it; you’re more in tune with the nature of the conversation and making that emotional and psychological bond with your partner. As you strive to connect, the both of you reach a state of synchrony – that is, your body movements react in tandem to the tone of the conversation. A bystander who cannot hear the words would still be able to see the connection the two of you share because of the way you move in concert with one another. If he could hear the general tone, he would notice how the inflections and style of speech also follow each other. Though the cadence may have been a bit muddled when the conversation started, scientists have discovered that people synchronize in multiple ways during conversations, and the longer they communicate, the more they connect and mirror each other. Through this mirrored behavior, the two have essentially bonded and become entangled. And this entanglement is not so different from the entanglement we hear about in quantum mechanics.

In quantum mechanics when two particles become entangled, they share data and mirror each other even after they have been separated – no matter what the distance. If you separate two entangled particles to the tune of a million miles, if you switch the spin axis on one, the other particle will immediately spin in suit, even though the span of an entire galaxy may exist between them! In conversation with another individual, fortunately the distance isn’t that vast – just a few feet really – and this allows for a type of macro version of relational entanglement similar to our quantum cousins.

How does this help us with psychic abilities?

By understanding that, yes, there is a process going on during communication with a spirit, but what is also happening is the building of a relationship. The communication between spirit and medium is theoretically no different than you talking with your friend. We may believe a “barrier” exists that separates us, but in the end, that may be a complete misnomer when we consider how two people begin to synchronize and entangle through the bond of communication itself.

In attempting to understand the mechanics of communication transfer, the preoccupation of the process may inhibit that deeper connection that occurs when one is truly focused on the conversation and the relationship as it is occurring in the moment. As two people connect through the act of conversation, entrainment happens and several aspects of their minds, behavior, and even blood flow, begin to synchronize and move in harmony with one another. This happens naturally, and if one were to get too wrapped up in the analysis of the mechanics, the possibility of interrupting that harmony becomes greater.

Communication happens when the sender (spirit) and the receiver (medium) are in sync. We have heard many times that the energy of the deceased is faster than ours, and so they have to slow down; while conversely we on the earth plane attempt to “speed up” and meet with the discarnate in the energetic middle. It is at this space where synchronization, entrainment, energetic coherence – the hallmarks of entanglement — occurs. In other words, the energies vibrate at a similar frequency and it is at that point where information can begin to transfer from one mind to another. The similar frequencies allows the data to “leap” from Sender to Receiver because, essentially, they have bonded; a bridge exists through the act of synchrony. This doesn’t mean there aren’t obstacles or other variables that can create distortions and variances and invite occasional confusion in the course of psychic informational exchange. However, once synchronization has been achieved, it can be theorized that these obstacles are negligible and not massive barriers that completely confound reception and loss of the spirit’s intended meaning. The incoming information might be confusing with the inclusion of unintended distortions or psychic “static”, but with a little work, effort, letting go of expectations and internal strife, they may be overcome through the bond – the energetic entanglement – of the relationship.

Perhaps, then, another clue in psychic development is not only to understand the mechanical process of how a certain type of functioning theoretically operates, but also to engage in the depth of the relationship itself. The deeper and more meaningful the relationship is to spirit, the more that relationship might engage all the facets one is trying to figure out mechanically and analytically. It is through the entanglement of the relationship, that active bond, where the processes (perhaps unbeknownst to the logical left-brain mind) are inspired and emboldened to activate.

In the end, by pursuing that deeper relationship, the rewards may be greater than simply receiving a better or more enhanced opportunity for communication. Instead, you begin to acknowledge the ties that bind all life everywhere; that there is no distinction between where you end and where the world of spirit begins. By the nature of your entanglement through the act of such meaningful relationships, you are intrinsically bound, bonded, and wedded to all life, both seen and (typically) unseen.

Remembering Rose

This week I received the sad news of the passing of one of my eldest clients, Rose, affectionately known as “Grammy.” I met Grammy at my first private household group reading back in 2007. Though her body was frail because of her advanced age, when it came time to do her reading, her spiritual energy was still a fiery whirlwind of desire and exuberance. Over the course of several years and numerous readings, it was clear that Grammy led one heck of a life, filled with drive and zest. It was always a hoot when I would connect with one of her deceased husbands.

“I have a male here who he’s really close to you … There’s an age gap …. He’s passing a lot of affection to you – a husband figure.”
“They all wanted me. Oh god - which one is it?”

It was obvious, Grammy was quite the hot momma back in her younger years, leaving a trail of ex-husbands in her wake. Listening to these boisterous readings, through the laughter one could sense that she never wished to be tied down and wanted to live life to its fullest. Even still, you could tell she loved all her husbands, and they all loved her. And each husband, by the nature of her energy and the information that came though, was a relationship filled with fiery magnetism. She outlived them all, but in the course of these readings, her sway over them remained. I can remember one reading where 3 or 4 them came through, giving some quick evidential material to identify themselves, then commented about how they were all sitting around the card table partying and waiting to see her again. In the last few years when she was able to attend the group sittings, she was always curious about when that next cowboy was going to ride in and sweep her off her feet.

But things got tough, as they always do. In the latter end of her golden years, her passion for romance soon shifted into a desire to simply be free of pain. Her body hurt; it was tired. And the last time I saw Grammy, I think it was around November or December, when I took her hand to better connect with her energy, it was clear some of her fire had dwindled. (Even still, ex-husbands were there to say how much they loved her, and also provide a few quick glimpses of moments from the past that would get everyone laughing). Naturally, Grammy’s family was wondering how much longer she had, and I, too, wondered. The contrast of her energy from earlier readings to that final sitting was definitely different; but it was to be expected. Still, I knew I wasn’t going to get answer of when the dreaded timeframe would be for her departure, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have wanted to hear it in the first place.

The course of the last year was a tumultuous one, for both Grammy and her family. There were periods where they thought she was going to pass away, but then her fire would come back. I remember forecasting a series of months where things were going to get really tough physically and medically, and everyone wondered (including myself) if that was going to be “the time.” When those months came, a few events did trumpet some big struggles. Throughout the course of her decline, there were times when she would stop eating and drinking; she would become incredibly stubborn and difficult to deal with. But, when you’re holding onto life, or recalling your younger years when your body could exercise the choices of your mind, no doubt frustration and anger boils up as a natural reaction to the dissonance of mind to body, coupled with a sense of spiritual repression as things wind down. “To stay or to go” had to be a tremendous struggle for her. When one lived life with such gusto as she, how do you approach what can only be perceived as the end?

The last time I saw her, I was so honored. It was a testament to her strength, just to be there.

Earlier this week, I started receiving some signs. I did not know who they were for. When I saw an image of a Raven land on my kitchen counter while washing dishes, there was an unmistakable sense of knowing, someone was about to pass. And when you receive such a chill, it’s hard to shake off. I wasn’t told who, and truth be known, my emotions probably would’ve blocked the information.

The next day at work, my car was practically dive-bombed by a crow – a relative of the Raven. Here was another sign, which sent my mind spinning. To my detriment, the week was busy with many projects and events, keeping me way too tired to do my usual morning meditations. Perhaps if I had, I would’ve been open to receiving more information …

Then I received two more signs … A crow flew right by my head, nearly striking me as it went. The definitive answer came when I did my radio interview with Rhonda Hohmann on Wednesday. She mentioned she had pulled an animal card earlier in the day. When she said it was a butterfly, my heart sank. Though the card itself had a very upbeat and positive message for Rhonda, the butterfly itself is a personal symbol I had chosen over a year ago to represent that someone was going to pass over to the Other Side … A caterpillar getting its wings. The butterfly symbol came through significantly a week before my cat passed last year, so there was no doubt when Rhonda said it was the butterfly card she had received, the spirits were not only giving her a positive message regarding her experience, but also telling me “This is it. Someone will be passing shortly.”

I got the news Thursday evening through a friend. I knew at that moment, it indeed was Grammy the spirits were warning me about. When I contacted her family to give my condolences, they told me how her caregivers could feel the time was close. Terri, her granddaughter, had connected with spirit guides earlier in the week through her spiritual development circle, and they informed her Grammy would pass within 3 days – and they were right. My friend Carol, when she tried to psychically check in on Grammy before the end, mentioned all she could pick up was a very high-energy, high-level being protecting her. She detected this being around the same timeframe I had started to see the Raven and crows. Carol wasn’t given a date, but the presence of this awesome angel gave her the real sense of foreshadow.

As I turned away from my desk when receiving the news, I wondered when it would be before I would hear from her. I’ve connected with the newly departed in the past, in some cases within just a couple of days. Curiosity getting the best of me, I opened my senses just a little. I didn’t expect Grammy to come through, and indeed she did not. Instead, however, I was given a wonderful snapshot of moments just after her departure.

All the loves of her life were there, welcoming her as they said they would. And I was shown Grammy with an awestruck gaze, smiling joyously, FEELING free and gasping “Oh my! This is so wonderful! Why did I wait so long to finally experience this side of life?” She was definitely ready to burst with that fire, passion, and exuberance that I was so honored to experience from her several years ago – bursting brighter than she had been in decades. There was this definite sense of casting off the physical world without a moment’s hesitation – running off into the sunrise of newfound bliss.

Grammy’s life and death has affected a great many people. For me, she is my first client to pass away while I still do this work. She is my first client the spirits tried to forewarn me about with a message of demise. It is sad and I will miss her at the gatherings, yet I know in just a few short months, her energy will come back into my field again and we will have a great conversation. I suspect, it is going to be one of the most profound and moving sittings of my life. I wonder, selfishly, how it will change me.

No doubt, with Grammy, it will be filled with excitement, passion, and laughter.

Until we meet again, Grammy, I will be here ready to hear from you …

Jeffrey

Fear in the Course of Development

Not much more to report on this week in regards to working with the “new sight.” Tuesday was the start of a long week of dealing with a sore throat, congestion, headache … You know what I’m getting at: the blahs. Though it could have been worse. Typically when I get a cold, my muscles really ache and my body feels like it’s been knocked around by a freight train. That didn’t happen this time, and I have faired a heck of a lot better than some of my co-workers who were out for three or four days with this.

At any rate, I’m going to take a cue from my good friend Carol Geiler and talk a little about fear. If you haven’t yet, you need to check out her blog for the week, on the fear of being psychic. I have to say, this is probably one of the best blog articles I’ve read on the subject, and there were so many points that I could relate to from my own journey that I decided to scrap my original entry for this week and write a little about them. So, yes, I’m going to reminisce, and hopefully this bit of indulgence will show something as to the nature of spiritual development, namely that at times it can be incredibly uncertain, scary, and yet also the most expansive force in one’s life.

As Carol mentioned, the two main crux objects that produce fear when it comes to dealing with psychic phenomena is judgment and education. For me, I’d have to say the main culprit falls into the judgment arena. It’s one thing to do psychic readings for friends and people who know you, it’s entirely different when you set out to do it for complete strangers. When I first began, I started with friends from my job (which at the time was in downtown Seattle). Friends are easy, because you know they will forgive you and not hold anything against you if it turns out you are wrong in your reading, or conversely, if you’re absolutely right. Friends like to see friends explore, grow, and become greater. Friendship carries with it the sense of comfort from knowing the person, and hence less stress. The fear comes with the introduction of someone you have never met before, because you have no clue as to their orientation: how do they view psychic phenomena? How do they react normally to the strange and unknown? How closed up are they going to be because 1) they don’t know you, and 2) they may have prejudices and their own fears about things psychic. The first year of doing readings for me was a mixture of friends and strangers. However, the strangers were friends-of-my-friends, so there was some connection within the network. When my company laid off nearly two-thirds of the staff (me included), I had to bite the bullet and actually go do a complete non-connected, no-contact stranger.

That wasn’t easy. It was actually sheer terror. Here, Carol talked about such moments as resulting in either facing your fears directly or shutting them down. By this stage, I had done enough readings to know that I had some ability, but knew that if I didn’t keep moving forward, I would never know just how much more I could learn – and who I might be slated to help with whatever I could do. My sense of needing the education, mixed also with a meaning of purpose, helped me push through my fear. But I have to tell you, it was tough. I was an emotional and physical wreck leading up to the reading.

I had placed a simple flyer on a bulletin board in a supermarket advertising free readings. When I got the call, my heart ended up in my throat. On the day of the reading, my head was spinning with thoughts of “What are you doing? Are you crazy? You could potentially look like a total fool! My god, it will be a miracle if you get anything!” Yes, I seriously was terrified. But I also knew if I didn’t go through with it, I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror again. It was one of those things that, had I abandoned it, I would wander through the rest of my life asking the question “What if?”

It’s the “what if” that has propelled me to push through a lot of my fears. I prepared as best I could for that reading: I meditated, I recounted some of the really good “hits” from previous readings with my friends … I could feel my spirit guides pressing me on. When I got into the car to travel to the client’s location, I played soothing meditation music. When I arrived and stepped onto the pavement of the apartment complex, I don’t think I was any less fearful than what I was that morning when I got of bed. But I had made the trip and was going to move ahead so I would never have to ask “What if?”

And good thing I did, otherwise I know I wouldn’t be here right now. The reading lasted 90 minutes and was filled with some wonderful evidential details. My favorite piece of info was that I saw a Native American in my meditation prior to my arrival, and he handed me a book and said it was for the client. My client was not Native American, nor did she have any Native American paraphernalia on display. During the course of the sitting, the spirit showed up again. When I mentioned it, she laughed and told me she just picked up a book a few months earlier to speak a Native American language.

When the reading came to a close, I was on such a wondrous high. On the drive back home, I couldn’t wait to read another stranger.

Of course, time sets in and the further away you get from a reading, the more you get back into your rut. Though this first real “blind” reading was a major success, I still feared doing the next one. And the next one. And the next one. Even now, after having done this for eleven years, there are times I get frightened before doing readings - worried if things are going to work and if I will be seen as a loony, or worse yet, a fraud.

But one thing the course of my development has taught me: timing is everything. Though you may not necessarily believe in yourself, spirit doesn’t push you into something if they know you are not able to do it. For me, I’m a resistor – I push back when my spirit guides tell me to go do something. Again, fear has a lot to do with it. And when this happens, my guides will keep pushing, knowing that I haven’t given up the course, but am just dealing with fear.

This type of “fear in the face of development” all came up again when I had to do my first group reading, which was simply going to be an experiment. Again, I was terrified, but came through.

I could go on, but suffice it to say, fear for me has been a big issue in my work. And for some of you who know me, you might even say it’s held me back; a lot of people were predicting when I first got started over a decade ago how far out into the mainstream I was going to be, as if to say I was going to be the next celebrity psychic. That hasn’t happened, and I have no idea if it ever will or even if that’s where I want to be. But I still do the work because of what it says about the multidimensional nature of our beings, so that’s the force behind my drive these days.

Carol mentioned you could lose friends and family during this journey. Absolutely, and I’m no exception. I didn’t speak or hear from my family for nearly two years after I divorced my ex-wife – something I absolutely had to do because of the incompatibilities in our relationship, and psychic phenomena, though not all of our issues, was certainly a part of it. That event to this day is still the darkest period of my life. When I walked out the door leaving her behind, I prayed to my spirit guides that “they had better be right about this.” Yes, indeed, during my struggle to decide the course of my future leading up to that fateful day, they told me “You have to leave.” This was the true test of my faith, as I left everything behind. I took very little with me. And had to weather the storm of being called “crazy,” and having lost my mind by my family. I only had one or two close friends around me, and I still had to battle every day inside my consciousness for nearly a year that I was doing the right thing. I left my family, a home, a place that at least provided shelter, but never would have given me room to grow and be who I am meant to be. Now when I look back, had I stayed, I most likely never would have moved forward in reading groups; becoming a member of the Ghost Society; and writing a book and being on the radio? Forget about it. Not only that, there would be another very lonely soul in the world trying to find her way – my wife, Heidi. For those of you who see me and Heidi living such a great life, know that it came on the work of some very hard and fearful events.

When you open up to this kind of work, you really can’t objectively close the door and go the other way. For me, shutting down in my earlier years would have been tantamount to death. At the time in my former marriage I was very overweight and fighting for my own sense of self in the world; to have a purpose and a point for my existence and why the relationship was just never working. And, yes, when you come to the threshold of going out into the unknown, as I have done with attempting my first reading with a stranger, or my first group reading, or the extreme measure of ending a marriage, it is extremely terrifying. But again, timing is everything; spirit doesn’t give you something you aren’t prepared for. (I think this is different in comparison to jumping in with both feet when you are being told, on some level, it’s not the right time. Then the question becomes: how do you know the difference between the two? Well, I suppose that could be the topic of another blog.)

With the release of my book, I’m facing a new set of fears. Now I am being exposed to a wider audience – a whole massive slough of strangers throughout the world, as I call in and talk on various radio shows being broadcast over the airwaves and the internet. Feeling vulnerable? You bet. It’s not for the squeamish. But I’ve gotten this far and survived it all … So at least in this endeavor, I feel I have a very good foundation to jumpstart from. And is typical, when the guides told me it was time to write a book, I resisted. Then accepted. And have moved forward.

Yes, there is a fear with being psychic.

Development and evolution, in some respects, isn’t meant to be easy. It’s the challenges that make us grow and become stronger. And I think it’s something we all share.

The Light in the World

Thank you to everyone who responded on my last post! I received a lot of great responses via email in addition to the comments on the site.

I focused a little more on this strange new sight this week. And though I didn't walk away with any major new epiphanies as to what it means, I did discover that everything "out there" seems to be permeated with light, or rather is radiating such light or is somehow “encased” within light. Now, this may sound simplistic or somewhat "common" in terms of metaphysical jargon, but it doesn’t appear so simplistic when you start to become aware of this all-pervasive field. Now when I look out at the world, I can at first intuit this omnipresent luminescent ocean, and then upon sensing it, begin to “see” a portion of it. I honestly don’t believe I am peering very deeply into it, but am rather striking only an outer “edge” of it. I also noticed I need to be relaxed in order to really perceive even the small amount I am currently able to witness.

When this “auric radiation” first happened to me a week or so ago, I noticed it as being a glow that appeared to emanate from the objects surrounding me. This week, when I decided to experiment with it, I began to notice it was much more than that. I noticed that even the space between objects had light going through it – light of all different colors blended together. For instance, a few days ago I stared at a white wall that was broken up with three or four pictures. It was my hope to glimpse the picture frames glowing a little “hotter” than just what my normal eyes would see. Instead, I noticed that the wall, though painted white, was not reflecting that plain surface back to me. I was seeing hues of reds, yellows, and even faint bursts of purple.

Out of curiosity, I looked all around me and noticed that the space between all the objects hummed with this mixture of colored light. Even now as I write this at my desk at home, I can look all around and see this mixture dancing everywhere. Again, it is so subtle that if you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice it. But now that I’ve been witness to it, it’s very easy to see it between things, but not so simple to catch a living object’s aura.

Huh?

You would think that would be easy, right?

Like everything, this is probably going to take some practice. At the suggestion of one of my readers who has learned to see auras, she said to stare into the forehead of a participant, clear the mind, and then notice what pops into the peripheral vision. Though I didn’t have a human participant this week, I did try this with a plant. I must have focused on that thing for about 2 or 3 minutes. I didn’t see any colors, but I could see a rapidly moving energy field around it. To me, it was slightly murky but mostly transparent, and its movement created a kind of air current that was just on this side of being “visible.” The leaves of the plant were a dark hunter’s green, bordering on the edge of blackness, so maybe it was because of the depth of natural darkness on its surface that made it difficult for me to ascertain any other colors? There were a couple of other plants that I glanced at, and one did appear to show me for a brief second a yellow glow mixed with tiny strips of light blue. Of course, then I wonder: Is the plant glowing a yellowish aura hedging on blue? Or is it glowing yellow and the blue that I’m also seeing is but a mixture of the light-field passing between me and the plant? It can all get very confusing …

Our minds are always looking to latch onto objects when we peer out into the world, in order to identify and give us perspective of what is physically before us in our travels. We wish to see what’s physically ahead of us, and so we peer out and say to ourselves “hallway, with bench at the end; a decorative statue standing alongside.” Very rarely do we ever look, acknowledge the physical constructs, and then ask “but what else is between me and these objects ahead?” It is when I ask that question and watch with detachment and relaxation that this colorful field reveals itself. It’s certainly not that this field all of a sudden blurs vision and makes everything disappear; not at all. But my brain suddenly notices, the air between me and the objects isn’t filled with nothingness, it is rather quite the contrary. It is filled with varying fields of light.

I hope you will challenge yourself to see if you can perceive it. It does require some relaxation and sense of detachment. Don’t get too hung up on whether or not you can do it or will see anything. It’s in that “getting hung up” that you will stifle yourself. No, just relax. Then find an object to look at. You don’t even need to stare intently at it, just notice it. Then ask yourself “what’s in the space between me and this object” and just pay attention.

To me, it’s like a fish swimming in the ocean. Because the fish is so used to its environment and seeing from one object to another – such as to another fish or the sea floor – is it even aware of the water surrounding it? Or does it perceive the water as simply “air” as we perceive our own “air”?

We know that the air between objects is teeming with atoms, molecules, etc. etc. So let us not take for granted that there is nothing between you and the objects you perceive.

Of course, someone could make the argument that perhaps all I’m witnessing is something going on within the construct of my own retina – that I’m not witnessing anything “out there” at all, but rather something within the architecture of the rods and cones that allow for the eyes to see in the first place. At this point, I’d have to say that I cannot rule that out. All the more reason to continue and experiment.

The real test will be if I can start to see colors radiating from the objects, as one does with seeing auras, and if someone else sees the same colors I do. At least through the act of collaboration, there’s a little hope that it’s not just the wackiness of my retinas.

Let me know if you see anything!

More Development or Something Else?

Maybe it’s because I’ve been following the events in Japan with passionate interest and my being has been ripe with empathy for the survivors and their woes, or maybe it’s been because so many thousands (if not millions) of others around the planet are being psychically (mentally, soul-fully) mobilized within their own consciousness because of the events overseas and in turbulent Middle Eastern nations … Being “sensitive” and swimming around in all this energy, has maybe affected me in ways I am not familiar with.

All I know is that earlier this week, my sense of “sight” has to some extent changed and I can only think it is a result of deeper sensitivity to the planet and everyone around me.

It was around Wednesday as I was heading back into the office that I suddenly realized I was “seeing” a radiating glow around everything. This aura bursting from the ground, trees, and people was not too incredibly bright or intense, and were it not for the fact that my brain wasn’t preoccupied with some random thought-process, I might have missed it. What was also interesting about the phenomena, these emanations didn’t appear to be light striking my retina, but rather from what I would term my “psychic sense” -- or at least, from the right side of my brain. You know when you wear those funky red/blue 3-D glasses, how the two colors combine in your head to give a somewhat freakish “extra layer” visually to what the outside world looks like? That’s kind of what this was, but oh so subtle. Though I could not detect any colors to the fields, my body was aware that the fields surrounded the objects and I could see them in my mind’s eye superimposed over the images being received by my retinas. At one point, I noted to myself “the dullness of earth suddenly just got brighter.” I was reminded of stories I’ve heard from people who have described the Other Side after a Near Death Experience that everything “glowed with a brightness not seen on earth.”

At this point, it’s certainly not something that has taken over my usual sense of sight. As mentioned earlier, if I had been distracted mentally, I most likely would never have noticed it in the first place. It’s not a distraction, but is definitely a curiosity.

There’s a feeling associated with this newfound view, too. It’s a feeling of commonality, communion, participation. If some of you are wondering whether or not I might be “psychically seeing” radiation infecting the area from Japan’s Fukushima plant, I would have to say “no.” Such radiation was not present in the US earlier this week, nor does the feeling associated with this sight come with a sense of “warning, caution” or other message. My sense of precognition also doesn’t work in the same way this sense of sight appears to. Precognitive events in my experience reveal themselves in quick bursts, like a two second sound bite. This “auric sight,” once I become consciously aware of it, stays with me for the duration of my desire to witness it. Again, since it is so subtle, it is easy to “turn it down” and let it go.

My next step is to test if I can “see” colors coming from the fields. I have a couple friends who can see auras on occasion, so it will be interesting to determine if this is what is happening. If I can “turn the sight down,” is it also possible to “turn it up”?

Or am I simply losing my mind? Hey, we have to leave all options open, right? J

At this point, I have no idea how this has happened. Maybe it’s always been there and I just never noticed? Or maybe it’s because I have been feeling more sensitive in my focus in regards to the planet and all that’s happening? I have a hard time believing it’s occurred simply as a random act; to me, there has to be a trigger.

When it comes to uncovering or dwelling with anything new in the “paranormal” realm, I choose to take it slow and methodical, versus jumping in and getting too dirty (that comes after a certain level of trust). I am going to continue “turning it on, turning it off” and seeing if it just happens to grab me by chance again. When it does happen, though, there is a shift inside my consciousness, not unlike the shift between left-brain and right-brain functioning which I have been getting to know better through various exercises. I’m also curious to see if whether or not it gets “clearer” or more “distinct” in presentation. Like I said, as it stands now, it’s not too intense or vibrant, but it is noticeable. I have recognized it is more “intense” around living things than inanimate objects; though when it first struck me on Wednesday, I could see even cars as appearing brighter than normal.

COULD IT BE RETRO-SUGGESTION?

Wednesday night into early Thursday morning I was struck by a very peculiar dream. In the drama, I was running around a winding parking lot, heading for where I thought was an exit out into the world. When I reached the exit, it had been barricaded. Roaming near the barricades was a wolf. In the dream, I “opened up” and psychically saw a new exit and headed in that direction. When I reached the new opening (which appeared as a one-lane passage), I encountered another wolf; this one a bit larger and scarier than the last. It stepped aside as I approached the new exit. Then it raced towards me as if it were going to bite me. At that point, I woke up. I committed the dream to memory because of its vividness, and for the simple fact that I generally don’t dream about animals, and certainly not wolves.

My meditations this week have been about sending energy to the people of Japan. On Thursday morning after the dream, the course of my meditation morphed into one of my guides informing me that my abilities were going to evolve and heighten a bit more. As is typical with this kind of communication, I acknowledged and honored it, and then did my typical “I’ll believe it when I see it” response, not considering anything about the auric experience from the day before. (I’m surprised my guides haven’t kicked me to the curb for how often I disregard or disbelieve their announcements).

When I came out of the experience, I consulted a couple animal totem books to find the meaning behind “wolf.” Of course there are many traits associated with this powerful animal in terms of group dynamics, but one of the more subjective traits of the wolf totem was its heightened state of senses, many times more than humans. The books declared that these heightened senses from the wolf totem point toward enhanced psychic abilities. An interesting parallel from what my guide told me, I thought. Of course, only time and experience will tell. My guide told me a couple other things, but I’ll keep those to myself to see if they come to pass naturally and organically.

Is it possible the announcement from my guide and the dream of the wolf were powerful enough to begin a new set of circumstances and abilities related to my sight, reaching backward into the past and motivating the optic centers of my brain on Wednesday instead of Thursday? I don’t know, but it’s certainly not out of the question. I was not told exactly what evolution was going to take place with my abilities, only that they would be heightened.

With all that’s going on in the world, I would not be surprised if a good multitude of us gain a heightened sense of awareness and inadvertently develop unforeseen psychic abilities, as it seems we need to continually be on the lookout for social uprisings, political turmoil, devastating earthquakes, and annihilating tsunamis. The closer we inspect these conditions within the context of our consciousness, the more we stretch our senses in an act of self-preservation – of being more aware of our surroundings and attempting with all our senses to glimpse what we can the nature of the future.

In the end, we shall “see” …

Until next time,