Thoughts on seeing medium John Edward live

During the middle of last summer, when it became very obvious that my vacation plans were kaput, I  decided to buy tickets to see psychic medium John Edward. It was something I’d thought of doing for a long time, but the tickets aren’t cheap so I didn’t. This time, though, I had the money I would not be spending for travel on hand, so I thought, what the heck. Plus, it would give me something to look forward to

For those of you who don’t know who he is, Mr. Edward used to have a show on the SyFy channel called “Crossing Over with John Edward.” I watched the show regularly, and because of the way he received information and the speed and confidence with which he conveyed it, I quickly recognized he was the real deal. Plus I liked the fact that, even though he has a Catholic background, he didn’t filter the information through a religious lens. (He stated at his show that religion is a path to the truth, not the truth itself.)

I purchased two tickets, not really knowing who I would invite to go with me. I asked my girlfriend Anne if she wanted to go, but Anne was noncommittal, even though she also enjoyed “Crossing Over.” A few weeks later I went to a movie with my good friend Joe, and mentioned the show. His interest and enthusiasm were immediate, and so the decision was made.

The show was at the Marriott in SeaTac, and we arrived about an hour and 45 minutes prior to when the doors opened. It seemed a bit excessive, but when we got there, there was quite a line and only one person processing tickets. By the time we actually sat down, there was less than an hour to wait

John took a wrong turn and was about 20 minutes late, but the show was extended by 20 minutes so it wasn’t a big deal. The experience was very much like watching an episode of “Crossing Over,” with John doing random communications on behalf of various people in the audience. I used to wonder what was cut out of his TV episodes, but after seeing him, my guess is not much. John doesn’t believe in “production” or playing up a reading for dramatic effect; he pretty much just relays what he receives. The last reading of the night was particularly moving–the recently deceased young son came through to talk to his family (his mother and possibly some extended family–I couldn’t see too well from where I was sitting) in their time of grieving. John even offered to call the father (who didn’t attend) after the show, on his own time.

The show lasted about 2 hours, with an extended Q&A afterwards for VIP level ticket holders. Joe and I could have stayed and gotten pictures taken with John, but we opted not to because we were both hungry by then, and we would have been in a line of maybe about 300 or so people.

Initially I had thought it might be neat to be one of the people who received a reading from John, but once I saw how much time he was spending with some people, I was glad I didn’t get one. Joe felt the same way. With my muddled knowledge of my ancestry, I might not recognize some blood relatives if they came through. Plus, John really believes that the people who receive communications during an event are the ones who need it the most. The grieving family really needed it. As for me, I have my own mediums to consult with, and I commune with the dead in dreams.

Some people in the audience seemed very hopeful about receiving a reading and disappointed that they didn’t receive one. If you plan to attend an event, I advise that you just go with the expectation of watching John work, which is itself quite fascinating. And the conversations between John and the audience both before and after the readings are interesting. You might think that your chances of receiving a reading during a 2-hour event are pretty good, but in actuality part of that time is spend in discussion and questions with John, and sometimes the readings take some time, so the odds of receiving a reading are not that good. If a reading is what you really want, I’d advise to save the money you would spend on tickets and buy a reading, either from John or from a less-famous, more affordable medium.

Thinking about death and the afterlife of course makes me think of my late cat Puck, and I’ve been telling him over the past 2 weeks since the event that I’d really like to see him. And finally, last night, he paid me an extended visit in my dreams. The memory was a bit garbled by the time I awoke, but I know it was one of the longer dreams I had with him, and that alone warms my soul.

Highlights of a conversation with a medium

I’ve been sitting on this post for just over two and a half weeks. It’s tricky to write about messages from the guides and the Lwa. I have to decide what to share and what to keep private. While I like to record my experiences here, some things cannot be shared for privacy or practical reasons. But I’ll share what I can…

This session took place on August 11th.

Early in the session, the Lwa came through. My medium, Tracy, is not a Vodouisant so she was not sure of all of their identities. I was able to identify one, but not the others. I will refrain from naming the one I did identify for practical reasons. While they offered words of encouragement, some of their advice also had to do with protecting myself.  And the one identified said I could go to him/her for protection, so I think it best if s/he remains unknown for now.

They told me that a lot of the work I’ve been doing over the past few years has been paying off. Much of this work has been aimed toward removing my psychic blocks so that I could be better attuned to them, the ancestors, my guides and deities. They said it’s been easier for the spirits to get through and that the energy has been flowing more freely in both directions. This made me very happy, as I’ve invested a fair amount of time and money to resolve my issues. For this, I can expect a higher amplitude of energetic exchange.  They did advise me to pay attention to grounding, as it’s easy for me to take off in my head. When they said this, I immediately thought of someone I know who lives very much in the spiritual realm. The downside is that she rarely seems fully present in this one. I was told that I am not supposed to take off too much as I might not return. My body would be here, but my brain wouldn’t be. (Tracy was shown Alzheimer’s as an example.) It would take away from me.

I was also cautioned that someone is “coming at me.” I have not been aware of any attacks really, but I credit that mostly to the Lwa and my other guides rather than to any super ability on my part. Having a Lave Tet certainly didn’t hurt either.

One of the things that touched me the most is that they told me there is an integrity around my relationship with them. This was gratifying to hear, because I try very hard to maintain my objectivity (without overdoing it, which can be my downfall) and to accept experiences without embellishing them with my own desires. They also told me that my altar does not need to get bigger (audible sigh of relief here, as I am currently trying to figure out where to relocate the Ghede and still have not resolved the issue). Another moving and surprising thing they told me is that in some fashion I’ve helped to “pull those that transition into it (Vodou).” They made a comment that some who have transitioned are part of the group now. I like thinking that friends who have crossed over in recent years could be attending future fets. It brings me much comfort.

Random info from other guides: They said it’s getting easier for me to maneuver around/through/in (I think they were referring here to the astral planes). I am good at paying attention, even past the “whoa” moments (meaning even when something incredible happens, I keep some presence of mind to notice details). I was advised to pay attention to the foods I eat; I should eat more greens, which I’d already been thinking about. If I understood correctly, greens can assist in spiritual development. They told me when I need to ground myself I can eat meat (they advised white meats rather than red). “Eating greens will help your mind. Eating meat helps the body. You are doing a good job of staying away from bad things.” I haven’t felt that I’ve been doing that great of a job on maintaining a healthy diet, but I am grateful for the encouragement.

And now for the stupid question, which I mentioned in a previous post. I asked them if I get to leave soon. And yes, I meant death. I’m not suicidal but I sometimes get very worn down and tired, and eager to cross over to the other side. Plus I’ve been thinking about death a lot recently due to the loss of a friend and another friend’s serious illness.

The answer was a firm no, as apparently I chose this life and am in it “for the long haul.” I have mixed feelings about this (I am, at times, the king of mixed feelings). However, they are telling me to move past this latest bout of obsessing. And now that I know I’ll be here for a while, I feel free to make some long range plans.

Overall, the guides and the Lwa are satisfied with the work I’ve been doing for them. And then they said, “If you are having to work on anything, it’s keeping the human bullshit away. Work on protection.” That got a laugh out of me.

I got to say hello to my beloved Puck (for new readers, Puck was my feline companion of nearly 15 years). He is still around, keeping an eye on me, as there is lots of activity. Last year I had a dream about my mother (who crossed over in the 80’s) driving my Siamese cat Snowman and I to a vet. In the dream another cat was at the vet’s office. Although the cat appeared to be an Oriental shorthair or Burmese rather than a Rex like Puck, I’ve been wondering if perhaps the cat was actually Puck, so I asked him.  Puck confirmed that he was there.

Then I said hello to Snowman, who crossed over earlier this year. Tracy said he was laughing as he greeted me, and said he is walking with me. Ever the one to seek confirmation even when I already know the answers, I asked him to identify the man in the last dream I had with Snowman in it. Cats don’t play the sorts of mental games that we play, so he simply responded with, “You know him.” Again, I had to laugh.

As I mentioned before in this post, I’ve been puzzled as to why the pain of losing Puck lessened a great deal after Snowman crossed over.  I’ve been mourning Puck pretty intensely for five entire years and Snowman’s passing hit me hard as well. You would think I would be feeling doubly horrible. But no, after I went through the initial grief of losing Snowman, the aching pain I carried in my solar plexus for Puck began to fade. So I took advantage of this opportunity to ask Snowman about that.

He said he realized he could do more for me out of his body. He has more malleability now. He said he “worked on” me. The idea of Snowman as healer doesn’t surprise me. He was always a wise cat, and tireless in providing me support.

Following the conversation with Snowman, I asked Tracy some questions about my current feline companion Luna and our dog Stella. I asked about my mother, and Tracy saw an image of her watching over me, smiling, and welcoming me to talk to her more.

After these sessions with Tracy, I always feel uplifted and have lots to think about. This time was no exception.

Stupid questions, obtuse answers

Teachers often say that there are no stupid questions. I disagree.

Questions asked with a sincere intention to learn are not stupid. The types of questions I’m referring to are those asked with insincere intention (such as trolling questions), those asked when you already know the answer and those asked when you know you are not supposed to know the answer. I am recently guilty of these last two.

My last session with my animal communicator/medium friend was interesting as always, but it was also a little frustrating at times. I did not get answers to some questions and some of the responses I did receive were so obtuse that I was left with more questions than I started with. Afterwards, I wondered if the ancestors/guides/lwa think that I rely too much on outside validation when I should trust myself more. This is sometimes true; however, I believe that outside validation can help us to untangle the truth from our personal hopes and desires. I also suspect that some of my questions were inappropriate. For example, I asked them how much longer I was going to be alive. Yeah, yeah, I know….

Sometimes when I get too dependent on their validation, I think they mess with me a little. Particularly when it comes to a certain trickster lwa.

I have yet to sort through and type up my notes, but as soon as I do I will post some excerpts here.

Beautiful new card deck and an online class

For me, feelings of depression or stagnancy are signs that my spirit is malnourished. One of the ways I deal with this is by finding new things to learn.

Nefer Khepri’s Egyptian Lenormand Deck

www.egyptianlenormand.com

My friend Nefer Khepri has just created and published her Egyptian Lenormand card deck. These beautiful cards feature original art hand drawn by Nefer herself using channeled images and colors traditional to the Egyptians. Nefer serves several Egyptian deities in her practice (including my beloved Sekhmet) and has a PhD in Latin American Studies (Mayan Iconography and Epigraphy). She has run her Magickal Musings business since 1998.

The deck is priced reasonably at $33.15 (Price includes  shipping, a clear protective case and an attractive satin draw string bag. Shipping is slightly more for addresses outside the U.S.). The deck can be used with the traditional Lenormand meanings and spreads, but Nefer has included some additional cards and interpretations unique to her deck. The deck is in limited supply and I don’t know if there will be a second printing or not. The last time I heard, it was nearing 50 percent sold out.

Sosyete du Marche Four Circles Online Class

www.sosyetedumarche.com

The wonderful Mambo Pat and Sosyete du Marche have begun offering online Vodou lessons (click the link above). These classes include links to exclusive online video and a forum where you can discuss class material. While classes are not a substitute for attending services or working with a house  in person, there are still many things a solitary person can do to serve the lwa and I think this is a valuable resource for those who do not live near a sosyete. Even though I have a local group, I am planning to sign up for the class anyway because I know there is more I can learn (plus I love Sosyete du Marche, as I’ve said before on this blog). Class begins May 15 and the price is $150, which includes access to the videos and copies of Mambo Pat’s book “Serving the Spirits: The Religion of Haitian Vodou” and her CD “La Priye Ginen: The Prayer of Africa.”

Happy learning! Ayibobo!

Exercising the spirit

Last night I tried the first two segments of Shannon Knight’s “Manifest Your Bliss” recorded workshop.

In the first meditation, I was guided to listen to my body to reveal my heart’s desire. At first I had trouble focusing, but when the images started to come it was a big blurred jumbled mess. Which reminds me of last year, when my friend Angel fused my multiple conduits for me to help clarify my psychic reception.  (Curious readers can check out that post here.) Now I am wondering if the conduits are fraying again. Or perhaps the information had just built up over time since I’ve been neglecting that aspect of my spiritual work.

I kept seeing images of plants and things in the shape of sprouting plants or exploding fireworks, along with human figures and faces. It was not making a lot of sense. Then I began to suspect that this jumble somehow represented my spirituality and as I thought that the images calmed down a little.

I guess I was kind of expecting that my heart’s desire would be producing art, but apparently my spirituality is more important to me. And when I thought about it, I realized this is true. I think I just misunderstood the question—I assumed that the meditation would be focusing more on mundane desires.

Yeah, yeah, I know what they say about assumptions.

I dozed off during the second meditation (dang your soothing voice, Shannon!), but am looking forward to trying it again to see where it leads me.

A tarot reading with Snow

Last weekend the lovely Snow of Swamp Witchery did a tarot reading for me. I’ve known she is the real deal since reading her blog, so I was not surprised that she is indeed a gifted reader, as well as being fun to talk with.

My current situation was the Four of Wands. She told me that I am enjoying the outcomes of my ventures. My initial reaction was to think about material ventures, and I could not think of how that applied to me. Then I realized it DID apply regarding spiritual ventures. No sooner had I thought that, then Snow added, “I think this very much has to do with your magical path in some ways, ready for deeper commitments and more work.” Bingo. Hit number one.

The second card, the Page of Wands. “Page of Wands adds to the situation, crossing the four–you are, in this magical aspect, VERY brave, willing to do so much more than those around you. You’re in a place where you are both an old master and a new student, and unfortunately people are only seeing the new student.” This was heartening to hear. I often do not feel brave, but I can be in spiritual matters. I am not particularly afraid to have my beliefs torn down and reformatted. Hit number two.

Snow: “Your thoughts are VERY interesting, the Six of Swords is what’s on your mind. Recovering from trauma of sorts, coming out of a very dark area of your life.” Big hit number three. I had just come off a pretty bad bout of depression, and had never mentioned it to her.

I’m not going to include the entire reading here, but there were a lot of wands and swords in my cards.

Snow: “Your last four cards hold two more swords. Nine of Wands is courage in the face of danger, plunging in head first, no matter what. You’ve asked for the universe to let you have more in the way of magical responsibility, so be ready for it.” (And here I was thinking, ‘goodbye lazy days.’ But Snow said this is for the best, and I agree.)

Snow: “Knight of Swords is your doorway from the present into the future–you’ve got a lot of good ideas, time to put those into action. Something that you want to do is going to get you that stability you need. You just need to decide on one!” Per her advice, I’ve been thinking on how to make my art more marketable without producing boring “office” art (which is art you would see in your dentist’s office). I have some ideas and may post them once they come to fruition.

Snow: “Your domestic life is the Six of Cups, moving forward, happy memories. Realizing your blessings and loving what is good in your life. The card in your Hopes/Fears position is the Nine of Swords. This card represents what I like to call ‘Agony of the Mind.’ This is that eternal worry, the eternal fear. I think that fear is what will get you to the next level in your magical process–overcoming it, slaying dragons.”

My final card was The Lovers, which Snow interpreted as being in love with my spirits and how I’m living. I was very pleased to hear that.

This gives you a taste of what a reading with Snow is like. I can’t recommend her highly enough. I’ve been wanting to get a reading for a while, and know who I’ll be coming back to.

Think you’re not psychic? Think again!

I just finished reading Sylvia Browne’s “Life on the Other Side.” I enjoyed it quite a bit, although I question her belief that there are no insects on the others side (when all other living creatures seem to be there). I am not a fan of insects in particular, but life is life. I also question her belief that humans do not incarnate as other species…that you are created as the species you are and stay that way. As someone who believes in therianthropy, that belief invalidates my own personal experience and that of people like author Linda Tucker, but who knows. There are a variety of explanations for differences in experience, and she could be right. Or perhaps cross-species incarnations are not common *shrugs.* I still enjoyed the book, and her descriptions of the other side are quite beautiful, even if they do appear to be viewed through a slight Christian and Eurocentric lens.

After reading two of Browne’s books fairly close together (the last one being “Afterlives of the Rich and Famous”), I was craving a change in viewpoint, so I started reading John Edward’s “Infinite Quest.” Like Linda Tucker’s book on the white lions, Edward’s book was also part of an introductory book club package (although I did choose this book because I loved John Edward’s television show “Crossing Over,” whereas I knew little about Linda Tucker before reading her book).

I did not realize that “Infinite Quest” is basically a 101 course in psychic development. This discovery both surprised and pleased me, as I am always interested in and open to suggestions on developing that muscle. However, as this book contains exercises you are supposed to do as you read each chapter, it is not a good book to read on the bus, where I do most of my reading these days. So, my bus book is now Edward’s earlier book “Crossing Over,” which is autobiographical. So now I am treating myself to a double-dose of John Edward, which is a lot of fun.

One of the things that really hit home for me in “Infinite Quest” is in Chapter One, where he talks about the five psychic senses:

Just as we have five psychic senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, and tasting, we have psychic ones that correlate…

Clairvoyance–clear seeing

Clairaudience–clear hearing

Clairsentience–clear feeling

Clairalience–clear smelling

Clairambience–clear tasting

I would like to be the first person to tell you that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CLEAR about any of the above experiences at all. I jokingly think that they should be called instead subtle-voyance, subtle-audience, et cetera . . . you get the point.

—John Edward from “Infinite Quest”

Ever since Puck crossed over and I began this spiritual journey into Vodou and attuning myself to the spirit world, I’ve been constantly reminded about how wrong my ideas about psychic experience were. Sylvia Browne hates the word ‘imagination’ because it’s used so often to dismiss experiences that don’t take place in the solid physical world. For many years I had the mistaken belief that I was not very psychically gifted at all. I knew that I had a very vivid imagination, however and, like most westerners, thought the two were very separate.

And that is where the learning curve gets a bit tricky. We all have some ability in imagination, visualization and, I truly believe, psychic ability. But how do we know what is imagination and what is psychic information?

When receiving a reading from a psychic, John Edward recommends you ask yourself if anything they said was validated by your experience. Did they tell you anything specific about your past, present or someone you know? If not, then you should probably take what they say with a grain of salt.

But again, this is trickier when you are acting as your own psychic. How do you know if the information you receive is real or just wishful thinking?

There are no easy answers to this and you will need to set aside your ego and emotions, which is not an easy task.

One of my truth vs imagination gauges is to ask myself if the information is something I’d be likely to imagine on my own. For example, at a Zimbate healing workshop, the students were asked to contact their healing guide and listen for a name. I did not get a name during the workshop, but did receive one the following day. I saw it in my mind’s eye, written on a piece of yellow notebook paper. It was a foreign-sounding name, one that I was completely unfamiliar with. And when I googled it, I found that it was indeed a real name, although there was some question as to whether it was Hawaiian or Meso-American in origin. Because it was a name so outside of my experience, I accepted this information as legitimate, more so than I would have if the name was one I expected to hear. While this particular “vision” was fairly clear, some of the information I receive is much less so.

During an animal communication workshop with Tracy Ann, we were instructed to ask one of Tracy’s dog for his nickname. I got an impression of the word “donkey” and immediately doubted it, thinking that it could not be right. As it turned out, it was not exactly right, but close. This time, I “heard” the word rather than “saw” it. The dog’s nickname turned out to be “monkey,” as he liked to climb up tall haystacks. While I did not interpret the information clearly, you can easily see the similarity in the two words. Neither word was one that I would associate with a dog. In this instance, I was lucky because the situation was one where another person could validate the information for me.

During the Intuitive Bootcamp workshop I took with Shannon Knight, I often found myself accessing personal information psychically that would be difficult to validate outside of myself. It has always been a challenge for me to get past my inner critic/skeptic and accept things as I experience them. I am getting better at it. I’m not saying that one should not question one’s experience; more that you should refrain from intensive questioning while you are receiving the information. Once the immediate experience is over there will be plenty of time to digest, question, analyze and reach your own conclusion. When you are receiving information about past lives it can be difficult if not impossible to obtain validation from the outside, especially if the particular life is a very old one or you lived in a remote area or the location is not specific. Most of us were not famous historical figures (and, honestly, if I saw myself as one I would be questioning the information like crazy). During many of the bootcamp exercises, images I saw in my mind’s eye did not feel much different from many of my more detailed imaginings (with the exception of one vision that had both visual and audio stimuli). The main difference was intention—when I am planning an art project (and this would not apply to the many projects that pop up in my mind on their own), I am deliberately visualizing color, materials, construction and methods of problem-solving and so naturally the images are largely what I expect to see. In the bootcamp, my intention was to receive an answer to a question, but then I would attempt to keep my mind open to whatever might appear.

In the Vodou realm, my experiences with both La Sirene and Agwe were subtle as well. The first direct experience of La Sirene that I am aware of was on a bus. I was lightly dozing when I felt someone sit down next to me. When I opened my eyes and saw the empty seat next to me, I fortunately had the presence of mind to quickly close my eyes and see what impressions I might receive. And I saw a lovely mulatto or Latina woman in a blue and white dress. This impression, while fairly clear, was still not too different in feel from what we call “imagination.” A brief vision I had of being on a beach with Agwe was very similar. In the past, my skeptical mind might have dismissed them as wishful thinking.

So before you assume that you have zero psychic ability, I would suggest that you examine your expectations about how such information manifests itself. Those subtle nudgings and images that you dismiss as daydreaming or imagination could be something more, and you may be more attuned than you think.

Saturday spirit work: Sekhmet and the Ghede

For the past week and a half I’ve had problems with my left eye, possibly due to worsening allergies. My eye was so dry that it’s been causing problems with my contact lens to where I could only wear them for a few hours a day. It was getting so bad that a couple of days ago I asked Sekhmet for healing assistance. I also asked Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte for their assistance as well, and used Shannon Knight’s healing meditation that I learned from her Intuitive Bootcamp workshop.

Yesterday there was a marked improvement with the eye. I was able to wear the lens without any problems all day at work, and today I’ve been wearing it all day without incident. I feel almost normal. And very blessed.

I thanked the goddess Sekhmet, and today did the first exercise from the book that my friend Angel recommended to me, “The Goddess Sekhmet: Psycho-Spiritual Exercises of the Fifth Way” by Robert Masters. I had to focus on images of the goddess in order to internalize her and make it easier to call up her image later without having to use external props. I found this exercise very pleasurable (I enjoy looking at her). It was also not difficult, as she has already popped into my mind a few times without any assistance from me.

When I work with Sekhmet, I like to draw a card from the Cartouche deck. Today I got Hathor, which was fitting, as she is an aspect of Sekhmet. The card emphasized fortitude, which I need right now to implement various changes in my life. I then lit some incense for her.

Drawing the Hathor card makes me think back on my last session with my animal communicator/medium friend, Tracy Ann. In my notes from that session, I wrote:

“[You] have that wild magic. Wild magic running through veins. You understand that. Are able to call it as well. Start practicing that. If it starts to feels too heavy, call on feminine energy.”

Regarding the feminine energy, Tracy sees letters. A name?

H E R M O T PH E

(You can read about the full session here.) It is sometimes difficult for mediums to decipher words and names clearly, and I am now wondering if the name that Tracy was receiving was Hathor. A possibility.

After working with Sekhmet, I went over to my Ghede/ancestor altar and lit candles for the Baron, Maman Brigitte and the ancestors, thanking them for their healing assistance. I also presented the Baron and Brigitte with a gift: a small metal African sculpture depicting a man and woman in the act. It’s stylized and artistic, but I figured they would appreciate the ribald nature of the piece.

In closing, I’d like to share this cool Sekhmet video I found on YouTube.

More altar upgrades and interdimensional conversations

Last Thursday I stopped in at Gargoyles Statuary to pick up my new Sekhmet statue. On Friday, a Sekhmet pendant I ordered off of Amazon (at a very reasonable price I might add) arrived in the mail. This morning I purified both of them and placed them on Sekhmet’s shrine, infusing them with the intention of aligning my energies with hers.

Sekhmet's new statue from Gargoyles Statuary

A closeup of the wonderful detailing. A droplet of water is visible on her solar disk from the purification ritual.

(Note: If anyone wants one of these, there was another statue in stock at Gargoyles as of Thursday.)

Needless to say, I LOVE this new statue. The sculpt of her face and the texturing of her clothing and throne are quite beautiful.

This morning was also my last session of the Intuitive Bootcamp with Shannon Knight. I am sad the classes are over, but at the same time I am looking forward to working with these new tools and strengthening my skills. This session was all about communicating with guides and the angelic realm.

When the session began, I told Shannon about an inspiration I’d had earlier in the week. I’ve been wanting to work more closely with the lwa (and now, Sekhmet as well) and I know that I need a lot more practice with some of the techniques I’ve learned during the bootcamp. So I thought that I could involve the lwa and Sekhmet as I hone my skills with these techniques. For example, since Sekhmet appears frequently when I clear my 6th chakra (corresponding to the third eye), then I can work with her when I practice divination techniques. When balancing my male and female energies, I can work with Ogoun and Freda. When focusing on past lives, I can work with the Gede and the ancestors. Legba can help me communicate with my guides. And so on. As I explained this to Shannon, she said that the spirits around me became excited, as if saying, “We’re here and we’re ready!” This made me happy.

After a brief opening prayer and some basic grounding and energy clearing, Shannon guided me to connect to what she calls “the God of your heart,” or the supreme being. I was able to ask any question I wanted, so I asked for clarification on the sci-fi disguised dream I’d had recently. I still felt that the dream held spiritual significance in spite of its fanciful imagery. So I presented this question and waited, and almost immediately some pretty wild images began playing across my mind.

I saw a pyramid with the eye of Horus design (this seemed like it was a key to something), and then saw a ship floating through space, but it wasn’t your usual science fiction ship. This ship had ancient designs all over it. Like old seafaring vessels, this ship had a masthead–the face of a regal lion, possibly Sekhmet herself, in shining gold and black. (Comparisons to “Stargate” crossed my mind, but let me say here I am not a fan of the movie and cannot get into the series.) The ship was massive.

My view switched to the interior of the ship, which had spacious triangular corridors with many people walking around inside. Some of these people did not appear to be human, but had animal heads instead, much like the depictions of ancient gods you see in old Egyptian art. It was not clear whether these were costumes they were wearing or their actual bodies. During the entire time that I was viewing this ship, I was aware of a very powerful energy weighing down on me. It had an almost audible hum and reminded me of the feeling I’ve had when I’ve been inside electrical plants and stood near large generators.

All of my spiritual mentors keep telling me to accept what I see, and it’s this acceptance that enables me to move past the psychic block I’ve had for years. However, I know these images seem strange and I do not claim to fully understand them. Are they symbolic or literal? Personally, I suspect a bit of both, as can be the case with spiritual visions. More on this later.

Next I got to call upon the archangels, who are a group of beings I’ve never worked with before. These are not the angels of holiday cards, but powerful beings capable of both help and destruction, like the lwa. It’s not too surprising that some Vodou practitioners use images of the archangels to represent various lwa. This was an interesting experience and I found their energy to be very protective and strong. The archangels do not seem to require much from you in return, other than acknowledgement and gratitude, which is different from the lwa. However, serving the lwa in the physical realm (giving them offerings, performing rituals, etc.) is part of what I love in Vodou. I find the physical actions function as constant reminders of our connection with them. I don’t necessarily prefer one way or the other, and plan to work again with the archangels and of course to continue serving the lwa.

We moved on to the ascended masters, and Shannon asked me if there was any particular master that I felt drawn to. I decided to talk with my Zimbate healing guide, a spirit I’ll refer to as “A.” When I first learned his name, I did a Google search and found that it might be Hawaiian in origin, but I wasn’t sure. Today I wanted to know more about him, and as I thought that I saw images of what might be pre-Columbian art and then a spotted cat which could have been a jaguar or leopard. Then I got other, vaguer images of him wearing outfits that could be either Hawaiian or Central American in origin; I wasn’t sure. Shannon thought he felt more Hawaiian, but then there aren’t any jaguars in Hawaii. Then again, perhaps the cat was a leopard and he showed me that just to indicate that he was talking to me.  He also showed me a metal bell and I heard a ringing sound that made me think of Tibetan singing bowls. Tracy Ann had mentioned to me before that I should be working with sound. Another area to explore.

Lastly, Shannon helped me connect to my spirit guide. She asked me if I’d had contact with my guide before, and I did not think so (at least not consciously). I asked her if she thought we had one guide or many, and her beliefs were similar to those of Sylvia Browne: We each have a main spirit guide assigned to work with us before we are incarnated. We can have other guides as well that work with us at various times (such as healing guides, creative muses and such), but our main guide is with us always. So naturally I was very interested in meeting this person.

I was not sure at first whether it was a man or a woman, but then the image clarified into a slim, slightly androgynous young man, seemingly of Indian origin (this is Indian as from India, not Native American). This made me smile, as I love the music, art, dance, food, mythology and spirituality of India. As I got a better look at him, I saw that he had long black hair in a braid down his back and possibly a mustache. I asked him his name and got something that was similar to “Alan” but wasn’t Alan. At one point he changed briefly into Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god, and then back into himself again. Remember earlier when I mentioned that spiritual seeing can be both literal and symbolic? Shannon thought that perhaps his changing into Ganesha was to validate that yes, he was indeed from India. This made sense to me, rather than thinking he actually was Ganesha.

I asked him to show me my life’s purpose, and he showed me an aerial view of a lush beautiful rainforest. When I asked for clarification, the view remained the same. I think this is because part of me consciously knew the answer to the question.

I’ve been feeling a pull to do more for ecological preservation. This pull originates in my desire to save the big cats from extinction, and was intensified by reading Linda Tucker’s “Mystery of the White Lions: Children of the Sun God.” However, saving any part of nature is part of a larger picture of saving the planet and ourselves. Mainstream industrial culture seems to be suffering from a sort of self-destructive mental illness that will be terminal unless more people wake up and stop allowing such wide scale destruction to continue.

I am not sure yet how I can help, but for now I will take baby steps, beginning with awareness in where my money goes and where my votes go. The rest I will have to figure out as I go along, with the help of the lwa, the spirits and the deities.

Illness, intuitive bootcamp and interconnectiveness

I am a bit behind on writing about my intuitive bootcamp progress (an over-the-phone workshop with Shannon Knight, see link on the homepage of this blog) due to some health problems, which seem to be connected with spiritual growth and an overall “self-makeover” of sorts.

Early in May I decided to go on a 3-week, somewhat extreme diet to shed some unwanted pounds that have piled up since I entered my 40s. While the diet is highly effective, it also exhausted me and left me open to other health problems. I sometimes grind my teeth when I sleep and, during the second week of the diet, woke up with nasty pain on the left side of my jaw.

The worst of the pain lifted after about three days, but then my allergies hit full force and, between the inflamed nerves and my exhaustion, a very nasty sinus infection developed. Thanks to some healing work from Angel (her blog is also linked on the homepage, “Walking by the Light of the Moon”) and techniques learned from Shannon and my Zimbate teacher, I am now close to fully recovered. I mainly note this process here because the diet and the bootcamp began around the same time, and both seem to be ending around the same time. And this seems right somehow. It really does help spiritual development if one’s body is in good shape.

Last Sunday Shannon taught me how to read auras. Of all the exercises I’ve done so far in the bootcamp, this one proved to be the most difficult for me. We went through each chakra to see what images or colors came up. Some were straightforward. For instance, when reading my heart chakra I saw a very tall forest tree, which for me means good health and grounding in nature. Others, however, were very confusing. When I read my throat chakra, I saw this weird jumble of images, black on red, that resembled woodblock prints of historical characters or playing cards. I am not sure what that meant. I need a lot more practice in this area.

Today she taught me how to balance my energies, which I knew would be an important one for me. I remember Mambo C telling me that my male and female energies were unbalanced. Shannon explained what this meant very clearly to me today. Basically, male energies are about receiving and female energies are about giving, and having some empathic ability I am more of a giver than receiver, to the point that I have made myself into a martyr in the past. I’ve mostly recovered from this in the last 10 or 15 years, but there is still room for improvement. Shannon said this is not uncommon for introverted people. After running through the balancing exercise with Shannon, I felt more balanced and it motivated me to make a phone call I’ve been putting off (I hate making phone calls, unless it’s someone I really want to talk to).

During this session,  I told Shannon about my recent spiritual dream in sci fi guise, and she mentioned that, since working with me, she’d had a number of galactic-oriented dreams (not common for her) and kept running into information about human-animal consciousness. I always find it fascinating when people reach a connection that goes beyond a conscious level. Just one of those times when you know you’ve found a teacher who is right for you.

Next week is my last bootcamp session. I will miss these when they’re gone. I hope to take another workshop with her in the future, but likely it won’t be this year, mainly because I need to save my money for the lave tet this summer. But that’s okay, Shannon has given me some new tools and techniques to work with, and it would be a good idea for me to master these before taking the next step.