Writing Creatively With Spirit

A journey of psychic discovery

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Graveyards and pigeons

2002-01-01 00.00.00-1386Still on a high from the conference I went to sleep, only to be woken with the words ‘West Brompton.’ I heard it twice before getting up and writing it down. I’ve learned that once the voice speaks it carries on till I act. Some of my best poems were dictated this way, one verse at a time. Only when it was all written could I sleep.

During the dream Gary Ranard (author of The Disappearance of the Universe) came into my room and told me that I needed to do more exercises and meditation to keep my heart open. He didn’t say what, so if you know of any good exercises of meditation I’d love to hear from you.

As I did my morning meditation it was as though the pigeons from outside were trying to get into my window, they made such a racket – I’ve never known them like it.

Anyway, I checked out West Bromption. The only thing of note there is the famous Bromton Cemetery where a number of very well known people are buried, including two Native Americans from the Oglala Sioux group. Names – ‘Surrounded by the Enemy’ and ‘Red Penny.’

It’s also rumoured that the children’s author Beatrix Potter got a lot of the names of her animal characters from the gravestones in the cemetery.

I’m trying to makes some links here. Is this about shamanism? Am I to trawl the gravestones for names for my characters? Or is this about ancestry work? I wish they’d be a bit more explicit with the messages.

Apparently pigeons are to do with getting news in an unusual way. Unless of course you know different. Any thoughts on any of the above will be welcomed, (as always).


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Letting the love in

I went to the 13th annual ACIM (A Course in Miracles) conference at the weekend. Although I’ve been doing the course for a while it was my first ACIM event. The only speaker I’d heard of was Gary Ranard, the author of The Disappearance of The Universe.

Earl Purdy and me - awesome man

Earl Purdy and me – awesome man

It’s not my intention to review the conference here, but generally it was very varied and Earl Purdy stole the show, but the person who touched my heart was Annie Blampeid. As part of her presentation she got us (all 160 of us) to do an exercise where we had to send love to someone we really needed to show love to. I thought for a moment before I focused on someone I’d been having some difficulty with, and who had been droftomg in and out of my head throughout the conference. In fact, occupying more head space than I would have liked since Thursday. The same person who generated the anger that lead to the nosebleed.

When we’d finished that she asked us to stand up and say ‘I love you’ to 3 people we didn’t know. No qualification (such as I love you because…) and the only response was to repeat ‘I love you’ back. Got the idea? The only words being spoken was ‘I love you.’ People were enjoying it so much she allowed us to continue beyond three people.

Something happened to me during that exercise! It was as if a massive boulder that had been firmly wedged across the door of my heart got rolled away and I could really feel the love of the person in front of me. I could also feel the love of every person in the room. It was so overwhelming I began to cry – and couldn’t stop. I carried on crying well beyond the end of the exercise, to the alarm and concern of the people sitting on either side of me who tried to console me.

ACIM conference speakers

ACIM conference speakers

One of the people I’d said ‘I love you’ to came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘that touched a nerve, didn’t it?’ I nodded mutely as the tear tap opened up a bit more.

As they were introducing the next speaker and the tears showed no sign of abating I decided to leave the room. I mean, I couldn’t sit there blubbing could I? Disturbing everyone.  I found a quiet spot in the hotel and a drink, let the tears flow into it. Eventually I said to my guide ‘you need to show me what this is about’, then remembered my manners and asked ‘can you please show me what this is about?’

The answer was almost instant, ‘you accepted the love, you let love in.’

‘What?’ I asked out loud, and looked around quickly in case anyone had heard me.

‘You let love in. Think about it.’

And I obeyed the instructions and thought about the work that I’ve been doing on self-love. The ‘I love you meditations,’ and the mirror work – and it made sense. I think that work had helped to loosen the boulder. I sat there and reviewed the way I’d attached conditions to love. Someone had to love me for a reason, my smile, my intellect, my body, my laughter anything other than just because I’m me. I understood then why we could not give reason during the exercise.

It really sunk in that I’d never considered myself worthy of unconditional love – and for a brief moment I’d accepted it – and was blown away.

I eventually rejoined the conference halfway through the speaker’s presentation, but found it hard to concentrate.

At the break the guy who’d put his hand on my shoulder found me and said. ‘I looked into your eyes and saw the allowing in your eyes. Do you know what I mean?’

‘I think so,’ I replied, welling up again.

‘Maybe you could do some more work around allowing,’ and he recommended the work of Orin Derby. I thanked him, hugged him and marvelled at the instant confirmation of spirit’s guidance.

Truth be told I floated around on a little cloud and took in very little of the conference after this.

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Or anyone you know? I’d really like to be able to share this experience.

Do you know the work of Orin Derby? I could find anything on her. Did it work for you?


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Session 28 – Crystal ball, candles and ‘don’t change that title’

2nd May 2013 (Thursday)

Six women and three men headed for the log cabin at the end of the garden for tonight’s circle meeting. The glorious May weather commanded an outdoor experience.

Crystal ball

Crystal ball

One of the men, a very gifted medium had not been for over three months due to illness and other issues. I’d only seen him the first two weeks of Thursday circles. As he was being introduced to our newest member of the group he shook her hand and immediately asked, ‘Who’s had an accident with the car?’

Completely taken aback she replied, ‘My car rolled down a slope and crushed the back end of my daughter’s car.’

For the next fifteen minutes he gave her fact after fact about her family and herself, some of which she was able to confirm and others he advised her to go and check, as they were about her grand-father and great grand-father.

After that sizzling start where the rest of us were in awe, and maybe a little envious of all the fantastic messages, Greg went straight into our opening meditation. The guides and helpers were duly summoned to aid and protect us before he told us to focus on getting a message for someone in the group, or for ourselves for the second part of the meditation.

‘Focus on your third eye,’ he said, ‘see a deep blue crystal in front of your third eye building the energy around it.’ He then moved to the throat chakra and asked us to visualize a paler crystal, again building energy around the throat, then to focus on getting a message for someone.

Candle

Candle

I chose a young woman that I knew very little about having only seen her twice at circle. I found it hard to concentrate at first as my mind kept wandering to an incident from the afternoon that had angered me so much it manifested as a nosebleed. I’d been in such a bad mood I’d even contemplated not bothering with circle tonight, then realised that I probably really needed it.

I asked my guides to help me focus, and eventually saw the young woman pushing a wheelbarrow full of brick up a garden path. It was a real struggle for her, but when she got to the other end the bricks were used to build a barbeque, and a real party atmosphere ensued. I saw yellow, gold and red balloons floating up into the air, and later, as the night drew in, the embers glowed and the little dog stopped its excited yapping, Chinese lanterns were released. I got four names.

During the feedback someone else in the group who knows her well said it made perfect sense, that she had a bit of a struggle coming up but had been told that by September there would be much happier times.

Two people got messages for me, one saw me in a very quiet place sitting at a table writing furiously. I told her I’d just come back from a quiet break in Wales but that I had deliberately stopped myself from touching the keyboard to write. She said I wasn’t at the keyboard, I was writing with a pen on paper. That’s when I remembered that while I was away I did a lot of journaling, which I write by hand.

The gifted medium also had asked for a message for me, and gave me fifteen minutes worth (be careful what you wish for), 90% of it extremely accurate. He asked if I wrote poetry, and had I had some published. I said ‘yes’.

He said ‘you’ve written a special poem for a special person recently haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ I stuttered, wondering if he was about to disclose the content and to whom, but I breathed a sigh of relief as he continued. He told me that I like to be by the sea, was inspired by it but was afraid to get into it beyond my waist.

‘Do you have a crystal ball?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ I said.

‘Do you see things in it?’

‘I used to, until I went on a course to learn how to use it properly and then stopped seeing anything at all.’

‘I think you should try using it again. You’ll probably find that you’ll be able to see things again.

He then went on to talk about the significance of a candle, and I told him that I often write with a lit candle, and that the candle was next to the crystal ball. If felt as if he was looking into my personal space.

The thing that threw me the most though was when he asked if I’d been asked to write a new book.

‘Yes,’ I admitted, I began it this week.

‘Have you been thinking of changing the title?’

‘I haven’t got a title for the new book yet,’ I explained, ‘but yesterday I questioned whether I should change the title of the one I’ve just finished.’

‘Don’t,’ he said, ‘they’re saying it’s the correct title.’

My jaw was hanging loose by this stage. Such a specific answer so quickly. There was much else, but after a while I became aware of the attention, and that other people had not had as much.

The rest of the time was taken up with discussing the way spirit works with us. One person described her dream of diesel being put into a petrol car, and half an hour after having the dream her husband called to say he’d put petrol in her diesel car. A long discussion followed where various dreams were shared, along with spirits many and varied ways of getting our attention. Like tapping people on the shoulder, poking them in the side, pulling their hair, moving things, through electrical equipment, through their cars etc.

The time went by so quickly that we didn’t have time for another meditation. And to think I considered not going.


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Session 23 – African princess and Shamans

25th March 2013 (Monday)

Tim is still sick. A virus laid him low and he’s struggling to get up, so I headed to Oak House on my own again.

‘Have you done something to upset him?’ Mary enquired jokingly.

‘Only if I’d been the bringer of the virus,’ I replied.

PICT2186There were eight of us including Mary and Zoe. Although present Zoe was not taking the circle as she’s also not well, and needed to slip out to make a call half way through the meeting.

The usual opening prayer was said and Mary checked with us whether we were happy with the format of the circle. Currently we have a mix of short meditations and skills development with the various props she introduces to us. An alternative would be to have longer meditations, focussing more on connecting with our guides, and giving messages from a more mediumistic perspective.

About half the group were in favour of the current format, a few (including me) favoured  a mix of alternating week skills and meditation, and others an occasional long meditation.

Given that there seem to be a clear consensus that meditation is the only way to really build and maintain connection with spirit, I can see that at some stage I’ll have to find a group where that’s the focus. For now I’m happy to develop the psychic skills because they are becoming increasingly useful. (I did a reading for my friend at the weekend, which she found very helpful, and one for another friend last week – also helpful). In the meantime I’ve begun meditating at home, managing up to an hour most days.

The most immediate effect has not been more messages but more peace and calm. My dramas are very short-lived, and my sleep is long and undisturbed. I shared my meditative practice with the group.

‘Did you get anything?’ someone asked.

‘For the whole hour I sat today the only thing I got was a pair of pink baby bootees,’ I answered, trying unsuccessfully to disguise my disappointment.

‘Oh, my daughter must be having a girl then,’ one of the member whose daughter’s pregnant said joyously.

It hadn’t occurred to me that it could have had anything to do with anyone in the group, though in truth it didn’t make any sense in my life.

‘OK. Our first activity today is going to be a silent meditation,’ Mary announced. ‘No guidance, just go into the silence and see what you get. About 15-20 minutes. Shall we do it with or without music?’

‘I guess if it’s silent then it should be without music,’ someone suggested, and we all agreed.

It seemed odd listening to the noises at first, the ticking clocks, the birds, the dogs scurrying on the laminate floor on the other side of the door. But as I went deeper the sounds disappeared and I had a thought of Hurricane Herbie.

‘Must remember the name Herbie,’ I reminded myself. Then I asked for a message for one of the group just to see what I’d get, and saw a plate of cooked rice, and a message, put the baby on solids.

I then drifted in that space where I cease to be me, where my body loses all form and I connect with and become the air around me. This only happens when I meditate frequently, and I always wonder why I forget to meditate frequently. In this space everything ceased and I didn’t get any messages, at least not ones I remembered when I came round.

At feedback no-one could take Herbie, and I got cold feet about telling the person I’d got the message for that I thought it was about putting the baby on solids, because I wasn’t sure if the baby I’d seen him with was his, and I didn’t want to appear foolish. So I listened to others trying to make sense of what the rice might mean for me. Even when someone told a story of how important it is to give a message as you get it I held back. I hope the person reads this as we don’t meet for another couple of weeks due to the Easter break.

Interestingly he had a message for me, or rather two. (1) He saw an African princess all dressed up in her fineries being made a fuss of. (2) He saw someone pointing at a book as if to say look in there, and heard the word Shamanism. He wondered whether I need to be researching Shamanism or working with it.

I told the group about my recent attempts to find my African roots and joked that maybe I’m royalty, that I’m really a princess. I also told him that a friend of mine had gone to a Shaman’s day yesterday and we had talked about it, so maybe the message was for her. (When I told her she quickly dismissed it and said the message was definitely for me – I need to look in to Shamanism). It’s not an area I’m particularly interested in.

‘But then you were never particularly interested in mediumship either,’ she reminded me.

Our next exercise was reading photographs, an exercise we did once before in this circle and also in the Thursday one. There were varying degrees of success, and we ended with another trance demonstration from Zoe to gain some words of wisdom from her guide.

It took her a little longer than usual to totally connect with her guide, (maybe because she was a little unwell) and as I watched I marvelled at how quickly this had become common-place to me.

As usual her guide thanked us for being willing to work with them and gave us encouragement to keep adhering to the practices that opens the channels to their communication with us.

After the Easter break I’ll only be going to alternate Monday circle and alternate Thursday ones, and I shall miss seeing members of the group weekly. There is a real closeness in the group and I feel very supported. Any fear or apprehension about looking foolish is in my own head, this is a very supportive place to be.

Are there any practising Shamans out there? How did you get involved? Would you recommend it?


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Session 21 – Distant diagnosis and GRACE

18th March 2013 (Monday)

No Tim again this week. He was doing a heavy cold, came in handy for people to send healing to later.

We were a smaller than usual group too, even with a new person we were still only six including Mary. She explained that Zoe couldn’t be with us today due to family commitments. She also explained the importance of opening up to the new person, who had not sat in circle before, and said a good way to begin a circle is with a prayer. This is where we invite our spirit guides, angels, ascended masters, God, or Source Energy to join us. She suggested as we were so few in number that we all had a go doing an opening prayer.

 

White light

White light

Public praying was something that used to terrify me, but after the last time Mary made us do one (the day me and Tim turned up on our own) it lost its fear. One member was quickly volunteered by Mary to start and we went round in a circle from her. That made me third, and bought me enough time to think of something to say.

Earlier that day I’d had a sharp reminder that my life here is not about ‘getting’ but about giving, about being of service to others. There’s a bit in the Course in Miracles that says something like, ‘only what I’m not giving am I not getting.’ So after asking God to join us and giving thanks for the fact that we could meet today, I asked that we all be reminded of our service role, and that the circle be used for the service of all in it and the wider world. There were short, medium and long prayers, all very expressive and effective.

The next exercise was a guided meditation from a CD in which we were led to an old man in a garden. We had to ask him a question concerning an issue we were facing, and listen carefully to his answer.

I asked about a relationship and whether it was time to terminate contact with a person. The old man answered that when we had learned all we need to from each other the contact would naturally cease.

The next exercise was to pick a card from a tray on which was written one word. We then had to try and figure out what, if anything, the word was trying to tell us about an issue or issues going on in our lives. I pulled GRACE, and inwardly groaned.

Grace is one of those words that I’ve never understood the meaning of, not like love or peace or joy or integrity. Grace is a complete mystery to me, and I said so. Mary offered a definition. That it was doing the right thing even if you know the other person is being a right s—t. If you know better then do better, by recognising that the other person may not be functioning at your level of development.

I instantly found a situation where I could apply that definition, one that had been causing me a bit of grief for few weeks. I thought about how it would be if I approached the situation from a point of love than from judgment self-righteous indignation, and instantly felt more at peace. My Course in Miracles lesson for the day incidentally was ‘I am entitled to miracles.’ And a miracle is a change of mind. I felt as though one had happened there. I had seen a situation differently and it brought peace.

Next Mary asked us to think about a missing member who couldn’t be with us but had suggested that we asked our spirit guides to show us his medical condition. We sat silently with closed eyes for about five minutes. There were no two answers the same, so if we were all right he must be riddled with complaints. I got ‘blood condition, possibly anaemia’. Turned out he has a bladder infection; someone got ‘gall’, so I guess he was the closest.

We then closed by holding hands in a circle, bringing down white healing energy and sending it around the group. Very similar to my very first circle where I saw it in the crystal ball before it happened. We asked for it to be sent out to Tim and everyone else in the prayer book, and then grounded the energy into the earth to help with the earth’s healing.

I think finishing exactly on time was so novel that someone asked if we could have some healing. It was two on one healing. One person sat in a chair, one stood behind with hand on shoulder and one sat in front and placed hands where suggested by the sitter.

I was so tired I was happy to be the first in my group of three. I asked for my wrists to be held as I still have one slightly swollen. It was beautifully soothing, I saw lots of pink light, and I could have happily gone to sleep. Alas no, as it was soon my turn to be healer. I picked up shoulder pain in one partner and back of the legs issues in another. Both confirmed these as accurate. I felt both in my body.

It was a lovely, relaxed session.

I looked up grace when I got home. Here’s a definition I like.

‘The exercise of love, kindness, mercy, favour, disposition to benefit or serve another.’

What about you, what does grace mean to you?


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Session 20 – Mountains, desserts and rice fields

14th March 2013 – (Thursday)

Eleven’s been a fairly consistent number over the past few weeks and tonight was no different. Eight women and three men including Greg.

We began with a lovely chakra opening meditation which was just what most of us needed, as a few of us had rushed in at the last minute. In my case it was trying to fit in a quick trip to the shop and misjudging the queue.

Anyway, our main activity was photo reading, and I’d forgotten to bring one. Fortunately those more on-the-ball than me had thought to bring more than one, so despite four of us not having photos we were able to carry out the activity as planned.

We picked one from the tray, similar to the psychometry exercise. Greg’s instructions were to look at it briefly, hold it with closed eyes and see what pictures, names or other sensations we got.

My photo was a black and white one of a slim, very upright gentleman of about thirty five dressed in a suit, with short well groomed hair. As I held the photo a wave of chill ran through my body. I thought that perhaps he was no longer in the physical world, but when I later got the name Canada I wondered if perhaps he lived there in the cold.

I got a twitching in my right ear and muscle spasms in my left leg. Although he looked like a very prim and proper man I got a sense that he wouldn’t let much bother him, that he had a very easy-going nature.

The first person who did feedback was so accurate that I think everyone was afraid to follow. We ranged from people who got almost everything right to two who got nothing at all. When it came to my feedback most things were confirmed. The coldness was indeed because he’s deceased. He had a way of ‘deafing’ people out if he didn’t want to listen. When he died his legs swelled up like balloons, and he had a very laid-back approach to life. There was no Canada link.

Our next meditation was pretty much a silent one. After only a very brief guide into relaxation, and calling our guides in for help, Greg left us for about twenty minutes to go into the silence. I got three very distinct images.

  1. I was in a helicopter at the top of a snow-clad mountain. We stayed there for a while just hovering.
  2. I was in the dessert, the one where they do the land speed record. I was in the car, ready to take off. I could see for miles ahead. However, when I got the signal to go the car just went at normal speed.
  3. I saw a huge rice field. I observed it for a while before Greg call us back in to the room.

Greg asked if I understood the messages of the images. I said I thought the dessert one was about me being impatient and wanting to go off at breakneck speed, and this was a reminder that life wasn’t a race. He added that sometimes we need to enjoy the journey, stop and smell the roses. I’ve certainly not been doing that recently. The journey has frankly felt like a slog, but I’m taking steps to put that right, one being only doing one circle a week, alternating Monday and Thursday.

The helicopter at the top of the mountain he said symbolised the heights that I can reach, and the fact I’m in a helicopter and not an aeroplane means that I will have time to savour it. It will not be a flash in the pan.

The rice field he said meant I would have enough to sustain me. Another member pointed out that rice is grown on terraces and that it could mean that my progress will be in stepped rather than linear.

When I got home I looked up rice fields and found images of amazingly beautiful terraces. It is most certainly a beautiful way to develop.

Check out this link to a beautiful rice field.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/incredible-pictures-rice-terraces-from-above/9489

I’m writing this on Friday, and having taken on board everything from last night found a new sense of calm and fun. I keep looking into the mirror as if I’m meeting myself for the first time, and asking myself the question ‘when did you begin to think that working with spirit was a task to be endured and not enjoyed?’

As you know I’m always interested in alternative takes on my meditations so please feel free to add a comment.


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Session 18 – Little Cottage in Negril

March 7th 2013 (Thursday)

I arrived at Oak House feeling a little wrung out from the week’s activity. (See posts Spirit Speaks – Message in the night). My head was still full of ordering an ancestry test when we sat down. We had one new gentleman who sat to my right. Our eleven was made up of four men and seven women, and as I’d got there with little time to spare we were into the first meditation before I’d got the round of greetings in.

Greg began with an opening prayer then asked us to focus on the flame of the candle in the middle of the room while he led us into the first meditation. Once we had drawn the light from the flames into our bodies and asked our guides to draw near he asked us to close our eyes and began the meditation.

‘You are in a room,’ he said, ‘any kind of room you want. In the centre of the room is a table. On the table is a jug.’

I found myself in a small room in a small house in the Caribbean around a small wooden scrubbed table. It’s the way I’ve always pictured the room from the song Cottage in Negril. The vase was one of those old porcelain water jugs used in bedrooms to hold water for washing.

‘On the wall you’re facing is a rack with containers of various lotions and liquids in various shapes, sizes and colours.’

Out of my wall emerged a rack the size of the wall on which was various shaped old style vials, porcelain pots and jars. There were also bunches of herbs, many of them tied at one end and looking like miniature brooms.

‘You sense or see you guide in the room. He or she goes to the wall and takes various containers off the rack, brings it to the table and pours the contents of the containers into the jug. Notice the colours, individually and collectively.’

Emerging out of the wall was an older black woman. I’m beginning to recognise her now. She’s the same one that was on the beach who took me down into the sea. This time she was dressed in a white calico head wrap and a white dress with short cap sleeves. She took four or five containers off the wall, along with about three clumps of herbs. She walked over to the table and silently poured them into the jug, not looking at me, instead being totally focused on what she was doing. All the liquids were clear and colourless.

‘Bring the jug to your face and inhale the vapours,’ Greg instructed. ‘Within the vapours is everything you need right now.’

Even before he told us to inhale the vapours I’d already begun to do so. It felt like the most natural thing to do, and I could see the steamy vapours streaming up my nostrils.

‘Allow the vapours to circulate within your body, healing any part of your body that needs healing.’

I have a little issue going on with my left wrist and my left ankle, so I allowed extra time at these points. While I inhaled my guide walked to the back of me and gently massaged my shoulders. She placed her hands on the back of my head and I felt the healing heat from her hands.

‘Now place the jug back on the table and thank your guide for his or her help,’ Greg instructed.

As I put the jug back my guide walked around to the front of me, took both my hands and placed them in the prayer position. She kissed the back of each one, then walked backwards and disappeared into the wall.

‘Release the rack from the wall and see the wall as it was before the rack appeared,’ Greg said, ‘then come gently back into the room.’

During feedback Greg offered no opinion/interpretation, and while I’m becoming a little more confident with my own interpretations I’d welcome any thoughts you have on what happened.

I’d had an emotionally challenging week and felt my guide wanted to offer me some tender loving care and some healing, almost a ‘I’m please with what you’ve done and I know its taken it out of you.’ I’m not sure what, if anything, the kissing of the backs of the hands signifies.

Our next exercise was aura reading. As we moved into positions for paired work one of the other circle members, Jen, brought me a small gift in a clear yellow pouch. She said, ‘I made you this to help with your creativity.’

‘What is it?’ I asked a little taken aback. I haven’t developed any particular friendship with anyone in the group, and haven’t even had many discussions with Jen.

‘I thought it might help with your writing,’ she said.

‘Thank you very much, but what is it?’ I was pleased but intrigued.

‘There’s some lavender flowers, a small bottle of lavender oil a feather and a yellow candle. Yellow is the colour of creativity.’

‘What do I do with it?’ I asked.

‘I’ve written the instruction on a piece of paper,’ she pointed out to me, and I noticed the neatly folded piece of paper in the yellow chiffon bag.

‘Thank you very much,’ I said hastily as our working partners were waiting.

I had a measure of success seeing my partner’s aura. I could see the white outline but no colour. She got very excited when she thought she saw indigo, almost verging on black around me. I told her that some years ago I had a colour reading that said about this time I would be coming into my indigo phase. She was very happy with her confirmation, and me with mine, that I am indeed in my indigo phase. It would be interesting to have an aura photo taken soon.

After the exercise I got chatting to my partner about her son whom she believes is a crystal child. I told her I knew more about indigo children as I once thought one of my sons was an indigo child. We traded maternal guilt for not being able to understand our children’s gifts at the outset, and the loneliness and terror we could have saved them in their early developing years. Then I reminded her that we needed to forgive ourselves, because we were only operating from our point of consciousness at the time and believed we were acting in their best interest.

When Greg came to check how we got on I mentioned my experience with the voice and Tom Seligman. (See Spirit Speaks) He said I was obviously working with the law of attraction. The more of this work I do the more I’m getting out of it.

Our final meditation was a chakra grounding one where we sent roots deep into the earth in order to pull up the colours into the chakras. The instructions naturally began with red.

‘Take note of the colour of the red,’ Greg said, ‘this will be important later.’

My red was scarlet, vibrant, and not my favourite red which is more the cherry red. Then we did orange, again vibrant. By the time we got to yellow I could feel myself drifting, and I don’t remember anymore till I heard Greg say, ‘and when you’re ready you can open your eyes.’

I could tell from the feedback that the meditation was about taking in clear bright energy on the way up and on the way down draining away any negative energy. For most people the downward colours were less vibrant, more washed out and pallid than the upward ones.

After our closing prayer I quickly found Jen for a bit more information. She said to follow the instructions on a Wednesday as that was the day of creativity, to face west when I did it and if possible to face west when I write.

It was only when I was sitting in my car about to drive off that I realised the link between my first meditation and the gift she’d given me. My guide had used a combination of herbs and liquids. She had given me a combination of both.

I switched off the engine and ran back inside to share my excitement.

‘I know,’ she said, ‘I was amazed when you shared your meditation. I knew then that I’d been guided to prepare the gift for you.’

I was gobsmacked!!!

Even as I write this I’m still shaking my head in amazement.

Do you have a view on anything you’ve read in this blog? Have you had similar experiences? What do you think the hand kissing means? Do you face west when you write?

The irony is that with all this psychic activity I’ve not done any writing on the book. I hope it was all about clearing the way for a more productive week next week.

 

 


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Spirits Speaks – Messages in the night

Wednesday 6th March 2013

I went to bed last night exhausted from my day’s research into the transatlantic slave trade. On Monday night I had dinner with two friends and told them of my thinking; that if we are all linked then I need to speak to my white as well as black ancestors. All of this was still swilling around in my head as I drifted off to sleep.

At some point in the night I was woken with the name ‘Tom Seligman.’ I heard it very clearly spoken. I thought it an odd name and made a mental note to remember it in the morning. As I drifted off to sleep again, by now thinking maybe I’d dreamt it, I heard the name again, ‘Tom Seligman. Get up and write it down. You’ll forget in the morning.’ I got up, scribbled the name on a piece of paper and went back to sleep.

In the cold light of day I began to doubt what had happened in the night, and wondered if this might have something to do with a Jewish connection as my mother’s maiden name is Benjamin.

Hours later I sat down to research the name. Two people with that name came up on Google’s first page. One was a young British conductor and the other, Thomas K Seligman was the ex director of the Cantor Centre for Visual Arts at StanfordUniversity in the United States. It was only when I got the part of his biography that said, He subsequently specialized in the arts and culture of the Tuareg people of the central Sahara, and has organized a major exhibition and catalogue entitled Art of Being Tuareg:Sahara Nomads in a Modern World (2005-2008) that I sat up and took notice.

I began to research the Tuareg people which eventually lead me to uncover the extent of the Arab world in the transatlantic slave trade as well as the Jewish interest. Also the way Christianity, Islam and Judeism have justify the transatlantic slave trade. It gave me an understanding of the background to the current conflict in Mali.

I obvioulsy have to do my own personal journey on this one, because for the first time I comprehended the full extent of black Aricans in the slave trade. Although many have pointed out that no-one on the African continient understood the full extent of the burtality that would be meted out to the slaves once they were taken on board the ships, all this now rests withing the collective world psyche. This is not just a European/American/African issue. It is a world issue, and if we acknowledge that we are universally linked then the world will not be free till slaves are truly free.

I began to understand why I’ve been finding it so difficult to write the story of black Caribbean parents. It cannot be divorced from the experience of slavery, because so much of what happened then still exists today.

I think my ancestors – all of them – want the stories told, but I was ill equipted to tell them. My experience of being raised by Caribbean parents is only part of the requirements.

There may be some of you going, ‘Oh not that old chesnut again. When are they going to stop blaming slavery?’ And in truth I was one of them, but that was from a point of ignorance. The fact that our Caribbean parents have no firm ancestral anchors is a massive handicap.

One of the outcome of this for me is that I’ve decided to take one of the DNA test that will tell me where in Africa my people hail from. It’s obviously important, otherwise why would spirit go through such lengths to make sure I found this information.

Here’s a question. Has spirit ever spoken to you, and if so what did they say? What actions did you take and what was the outcome?

This is truly a fascinating journey.

 


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Session 16 – More trance and Story Cubes

February 28th 2013 (Thursday)

I was very early tonight and had a chance to have a chat with Greg before the others arrived. I wanted to share with him the sensation I have when I sit down to write; when I sit staring at the flipchart paper on which I’ve sketched a story, or the pieces of paper on which I’ve sketched characters. How I can stare at them for ages before I make a connection with the characters. Usually the first characters I get are the ones in whose voices the story will be told.

First flowers coming through in Rookery Park

First flowers coming through in Rookery Park

It’s exactly the same feeling I get in meditation when I connect with the energy of the group, or when I drop into the timeless zone of spirit. Once I get that feeling I know the words will flow, and very often they will flow in a way I hadn’t planned. He said I’m quite possibly connecting with the spirits whose story I’m telling. There’s resonance in this for me.

By the time everyone had arrived there were two new women. One who visited the Monday circle once, and an Asian woman invited by the black one who came last week. Interestingly, apart from Greg all eleven of us were women. He welcomed everyone and announced that Ann would be joining us later for a trance demonstration.

‘We’ll begin with a meditation to get us nice and relaxed.’ He said.

With closed eyes he instructed us to breathe deeply.

‘There’s a ball of light above your head,’ he said. ‘Bring the ball of light down through your body, lighting every cell. Ask your guides known and new to draw close.’

As he said this I felt a wave of cold spread from my toes up to my thighs. This despite the fact I was sitting as close as it’s possible to get to the radiator and was perfectly warm and toasty prior to that. In my head I silently asked my guides if they wouldn’t mind bringing a bit of heat with them. Not one of them responded, and I remained cold throughout the whole session. I sat with my jacket draped over my legs.

During the feedback when I told the group of my experience, Greg said most people first experience the presence of spirit as cold on their legs. I made a mental note.

About half the group had great images and messages from their guides, the other half just felt relaxed.

Our activity for the night was using story cubes to give readings. Story cubes are small dice shaped cubes with pictures etched into each face. There are nine of them in the pack, and they’re used to develop creative writing and story telling.

Greg demonstrated how to use them to give a reading. For speed he used only three of the cubes. It’s very similar to doing a three card reading. We then had to work in pairs to do readings for each other.

My three pictures were a book, a magnifying glass and a symbol that my partner initially thought were the wings of a mythical bird. She thought the meaning was that I should look into writing Harry Potter type books. The magnifying glass could also mean looking deeply within, self-examination. It all made sense. So too did the alternative interpretation when Greg pointed out that the wings were actually a fire.

One of the symbolism of fire is purification. In the morning I’d got yellow from my colour set of cards =  purify the body, and the frog from the animal set = purification. Purification of the body’s been a consistent message for weeks now. So much so that I’ve changed my diet, become vegetarian, and now working toward being vegan. I say working toward because I found myself buying a bag of Thornton’s Special Toffee the other day. And they were soooo delicious.

Anyway, back to the circle. I then did a reading for my partner. She had a bee, a sheep, and what looked like a jester with a small child on the end of one of his feet. I interpreted it as needing more sweetness in life (bees=honey) and not being afraid to go out on a limb with a project (don’t be a sheep), that she’d probably be getting a gentle push to go out there (jester kicking child away). The project thing resonated with her.

I instantly saw a use for these cubes in international creative writing workshops, and ordered a set as soon as I got home. There’s a big assumption here that I’m going to be running such workshops. You read it here first.

Next we had Ann do a trance demonstration for us. I was sitting next to her, and although I had my eyes closed I felt a surge of energy as her guide arrived.

Now, I’m conscious here that in a few short weeks I’m saying things that were just a mystery to me not so long ago – surges of energy indeed.

Anyway, her guide’s message was very similar in nature to his others. He thanked us for being willing to work with spirit, encouraged us to meditate often and aim to live an honest and authentic life. He told us that we are spiritual being in a body, that we should care for it, but know that when we’ve learned all we need to in this incarnation, it will fall away. What’s important while we’re here is to take the lessons from every situation we encounter, good or bad. It’s all of our creation to learn the lessons we came for.

When she’d finished we had a discussion about the different levels of trance which range from very light trance where the medium is aware of what is being said, to the medium allowing his/her body to be totally taken over by spirit and as such is not at all aware of what is being said or done to them. In some cases they can be so deep in trance that if you stuck pins in them they wouldn’t feel it. Oak House once had such a practitioner, and there are many tales told about him.

The issue of whether ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ spirits could take over the body in such a state came up. Again there were two schools of thought, those that think yes and those that think no. Greg explained that like attract like, if you remain positive you will only attract positive spirits. I added my two pennies worth by saying I believe that the best form of protection is working in the energy of love. Nothing negative can permeate it.

Our final exercise was to get messages for someone in the room. As I focused on the person I was tying to get a message for I got a tingling in my ear, then saw green fields, and the words ‘make your decision from the heart’ popped into my head. Again there was a high level of accuracy during the feedback session.

When I checked with the person that  I’d got the message for if she’d got issues with her ears she nodded vigorously, even touched the same side of her ear as my tingling one. She didn’t know what I meant by ‘make a decision from the heart’ and decided she needed to think about the green fields some more as someone else had also seen that for her.

Interestingly, no one got any messages for me. Only two of us didn’t get messages while some got multiples.

In all honesty things have been moving so quickly it was a relief to have nothing extra to go home with tonight.


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Session 15 – Card readings

February 25th 2013 (Monday)

Tim’s still on holiday, and a few others were missing, so there were only six of us including Mary. After the opening prayer we went straight into a meditation in which Mary suggested we ask our guides for a philosophy, some words of wisdom. This could be either for an individual or for the whole group. I’d had a busy weekend and was very tired. I had to fight to stay awake (even though it was only mid afternoon). The only things I got was ‘always trust your heart, it knows the way,’ and after a few more minutes I had a vision of me being pulled up the stairs of a spiral staircase in a big old building. I couldn’t see who was doing the pulling.

During the feedback it became clear that most of us had been given philosophies relating to the heart.

Mary asked if we knew why we ‘opened up’ with prayer. Generally speaking it’s a signal to spirit that we’re reporting for work, and it’s important to signal that we are willing to work only in the light. We talked about whether negative ‘entities’ (bad spirit) could attach themselves to us or take us over. There were two schools of thought. One was yes, and we have to make sure we protected ourselves at all times but particularly when we ‘opened up’. The second was no, if we stay in the light no ‘entities’ can invade us because such entities are a manifestation of our own fears. I’m going with the second.

We then had a lengthy discussion following on from last week about the difference between working psychically and working spiritually. Mary wanted to make sure we were all clear about the different states and their meanings. Essentially when working spiritually you will get messages that you couldn’t possibly have worked out for yourself. Usually evidence is given from spirit world of life after death. Psychically is essentially working with the auric field, our own knowledge and our intuition.

We then did readings for each other using tiny angel cards with one word on them. Most of them also have a small picture. I picked beauty and my partner picked play. Alongside the word was a little scene of children playing by the beach, one of them with fairy wings.

I was able to give a reading that made a lot of sense to the person. Everything except the very last thing made sense, and we agreed the thing that didn’t would in time. What surprised me was how confident I felt with what I was saying. Checking that it made sense but not doubting what I was saying, even though there were times when I wondered where the words came from.

When she did my reading she told me of a blue bird with outstretched wings signifying freedom and communication. As there was also a tinge of green on the bird she felt this meant that my communication (words) would bring healing to others. I could do with more romance. (Who couldn’t?)

Mary then asked us to think about whether we felt we’d given/received a psychic or spiritual reading. I felt I’d given a psychic reading but had received a spiritual one. My partner, who connects very easily with her guides, agreed.

Any ideas what being pulled up the stairs could mean?