Michael Thompson Isaac

ANNOUNCEMENT

2007-04-12T13:54:00.000-06:00

ANNOUNCEMENT

12 April, 2007

I will no longer be taking any appointments for personal, group, or gallery event sessions due to important personal reasons. Unfortunately, I have no timetable for resuming sessions in the near future.

If you’re already scheduled for an upcoming session, your session must be cancelled. Please accept my heartfelt apologies. I will refund your payment, if applicable, as soon as possible.

For those of you who are looking for some help with grief, loss, or other issues; please see the Links section of the site for some referrals. I trust these people listed here implicitly, and hope you find them helpful.

Above all, remember that you’re a beautiful person just the way you are.

I wish you all the best.

MTI

Government by Contempt

2007-03-20T07:08:00.000-06:00

"The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny."

James Madison, The Federalist Papers

When I was born, my father had already served 19 years in the Navy. He was a corpsman attached to a Marine unit, and his career saw him engaged in combat in both Korea and Vietnam. Of the 22 years he served, more than 3 years were served under combat conditions.

As a boy I was fascinated with my father's military service. I wanted to hear stories of glorious battles and victories. I wanted to know the friendships he had. I wanted to hear about the honor and the sacrifice.

Dad didn't talk about it much. And when he did it was with red eyes and a choked voice. But one day not too many years ago, my father told me, in detail, about his first day in-country in Vietnam.

He was a thirty-something NCO (I'll bet they called him the "Old Man") who volunteered to go "to help," he always said. He landed in Saigon and waited a day or so for the transportation to the unit on some numbered and dust-choked hill that would be his first assignment.

The cargo plane didn't even stop to drop him off--the landing zone was consistently bombarded by enemy mortars so they did a fast turn with the back ramp open. He had to jump out and roll to a stop with the other supplies.

His first night on that dirty mountain in Vietnam, the enemy pounded the base with artillery. Despite my Dad's best efforts, 42 of "his boys" died. 30 years later he could barely talk about the pain and suffering he endured that horrific day.

He stayed in Vietnam another 400 days.

The word "patriot" springs from the Greek word pater, which means "father." In Greek, patrios means "of one's father." To be a true patriot, then, has nothing to do with the arbitrary borders that delineate one country's clan from another.

Being a patriot means being a parent. A guardian. A teacher. A mentor. A caregiver. Loyalty to "the family" is important, of course, but not to the detriment of the greater good. So, with patriotism, as with parenthood, comes responsibility. Sometimes uncomfortable decisions must be made. Consequences--for stealing, lying, cheating, injuring, etc.--must be enforced. As parents know, love means sometimes doing not what is wanted, but what is necessary in order to teach, to protect, and to grow.

My father was and is a true patriot. He chose to help heal other people, day in and day out for over 50 years (he spent another 30-some years as an orthopedic Physicians Assistant). Sometimes he was under fire but he was always under the weight of his memories. His decisions are powerful lessons for me.

As a people, we're now allowing other patriots, other fathers and sons, to suffer and die, but not just under the weight of patriotic duty. We are suffering the lies of tyrants and putting an undue but permanent weight on the shoulders of our fellow man. Regardless of their country or other affiliation.

It's important you read Mr. Strieber's article.

MTI
www.mtisaac.com
www.spiriteducation.net

Beauty in a Chain Email

2007-03-15T08:33:00.000-06:00

I just got a chain email that stopped me cold.

Normally, I just read, go "hmmmm...." and delete these emails, but there's something really beautiful about this one that led me on a quest.

Here's the entirety of the email I received:

Look at the picture, read the prayer, and then make a wish and read the prayer again.

Hi - I am picking 11 people who have touched my life and who I think would want to receive this. Please send it back to me (You'll see why).
In case you are not aware, Saint Theresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways, meaning she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love.
She is represented by roses. May everyone who receives this message be blessed.
Theresa's Prayer cannot be deleted.
REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the prayer. That's all you have to do.
There is nothing attached. Just share this with people and see what happens on the fourth day.
Sorry you have to forward the message, but try not to break this, please.
Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. Read the prayer below.

Saint Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

Now, send this to 11 people within the next 5 minutes. And remember to send this back. I count as 1...you'll see why.

It's a beautiful prayer.

But I, as a general rule, don't do chain emails... This one intrigued me.

The picture in the email is of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, neither of which wrote this prayer. I looked high and low but found no solid attribution for the prayer, either. Some say Saint Teresa of Avila, some Saint Therese of Lisieux, but I wasn't able to find an "official" version of this prayer in my searching. Not that this matters very much. I'm just interested, but it's a great prayer that I'll remember.

During my search, I found the story of a young lady named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, who was born in Skopje, Macedonia, in 1910.

At the age of twelve, Agnes felt the call of God. She knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ. At the age of eighteen she left her parental home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India.

After a few months' training in Dublin she was sent to India, where on May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948 she taught at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta, but the suffering and poverty she glimpsed outside the convent walls made such a deep impression on her that in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent school and devote herself to working among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta.

In 1979, Agnes won the Nobel Peace Prize. But you don't know her as the humble Macedonian missionary Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu.

You know her as Mother Teresa.

When looking for Mother Teresa's prayers, I came across this touching and inspiring prayer.

Prayer of Mother Teresa
DEAR JESUS, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine.
Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus.
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.

I was very excited to hear Mother Teresa read the prayer in this recording. It's from a Franciscan-run Catholic web site.

Now, I'm not a Christian, per se. I'm not a member of any religion, as a matter of fact, nor do I ascribe to all the tenets and dogmas of any religions. One of my avatars for love and forgiveness, though, is Jesus.

If you're like me, you find beauty in many things. I find beauty and truth in this prayer.

And that's what I want to embody here: that God/Jesus/Supreme Being/Love/Cosmic Consciousness--whatever you want to call it--shines through me so that I can be a light to others. I also want to contain that spirit and that love.

Admittedly, my chosen profession doesn't align nicely with the tradition and dogma of most organized religions. (I have had priests and those in seminary come to sessions incognito, however!) But my modality is just mediumship.

My goal is love and connection. I sometimes stumble and turn away from this goal, but I continue to strive for it.

As I read these prayers, I could feel something "working" in me...I hope you feel the same thing.

MTI
www.mtisaac.com
www.spiriteducation.net

Parts excerpted from Nobelprize.org

The Secret is a Lie

2007-03-14T14:39:00.000-06:00

Well, it's already starting... The naysayers and vociferous critics are jumping on (or maybe off?) The Secret bandwagon.

As was stated by James Arthur Ray on The Oprah Winfrey Show a few weeks back: mediocrity attacks excellence. And while I still have a few issues with The Secret and some things I think it's missing, I think it's an excellent introduction to the power of the Law of Attraction and Practicing the Miraculous.

I want to live in a world where anything is possible for anyone. I want to live in a world where magical and miraculous things happen every day. Isn't that preferable to a world in which people are limited and miracles are only for the privileged few? So I choose to believe in the power of quantum possibility and the miraculous. And the miraculous happens to me almost every day.

Just think of the powerful and majestic world we'd live in if each and every person on this planet agreed that everything is possible. What an amazing idea! Peace, full bellies, wanton love and creation, smiles, equity and respect. It's all possible!

Why would anyone EVER attack that possibility?

I think there are two reasons people attack The Secret: they can't get it to work for them, and they are afraid to admit they're ultimately responsible for the world they perceive.

We're taught, from a young age, to be victims. We're taught that things happen to us and around us. We're instructed that the only way to make something of our pitiful lives is through hard work. Not productive work, or enjoyable work, but through sacrifice and lack.

Here's the major omission I think the producers of The Secret made:

Moving from a victim's mindset (like most of us, including Yours Truly at times) to a miraculous mondset is HARD. It takes diligence and introspection and what I call "hyperawareness."

The Secret, at times, makes the Law of Attraction sound as if all you need to do is sit around "aumming" all day to get that Ferrari. Or maybe all you need to do is clench your eyes shut and visualize more checks than bills arriving in the mail. Or just paint a picture of your perfect mate to have them show up on your doorstep.

Nope. It's not that simple. Not by a longshot.

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, my friends. In my experience, it just doesn't work that way when you come from a mentality of victimhood.

That doesn't mean, though, that these truly wondrous things can't happen! Quite the contrary. They do happen all the time! But when we still believe, at our core, that we're bit players in some larger cosmic script, replicating the miraculous becomes pretty dicey.

And, as Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the Universe." Well said!

So I understand where the detractors are coming from. I sure do. Many of them think there's a lot of attention given the material aspects of wealth. Some think it's downright dangerous. (Why? To give people hope?) Others think it's not scientific nor provable.

These things may be true. But I think they're missing the point completely.

What The Secret, and most personal-development teachers, tell us is that we are in control of how we perceive the Universe around us. When coupled with the ancient engine of the Universe (I call it the Cycle of Continuous Creation and The Secret calls it the Law of Attraction)--consciousness...

Miracles happen. Every day.

I invite you to watch the DVD and then listen to the detractors. I hope you apply that beautiful and powerful mind of yours and evaluate the statement that's at the heart of the matter:

Miracles happen.

With intentional consciousness, you can make them your partner.

MTI
www.mtisaac.com
www.spiriteducation.com

Someone to Watch over You

2007-03-09T09:51:00.000-06:00

I'm speaking at the Twin Cities Psychic Symposium on March 24. In preparation for this exciting event, I was asked to provide some of my thoughts about intuition...

Here's a reprint of the article!

A Preview, by MICHAEL THOMPSON ISAAC
Someone to Watch over You

Speaking from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. You have a constant companion, and its only job is to protect and care for you. Your intuition, that consistent source of whispers from your soul, is always on the job. All you need to do is listen and act. Sometimes, your intuition will even save your life.

It was 1980 when I learned this firsthand.

I was riding home from the park near my house in Green Bay, Wisc., one fine summer evening. My bike and I were operating as one -- a finely-tuned machine of 11-year-old muscles and Schwinn steel. We were going so fast! We were free and flying! The wind whipped my face and the howl of speed echoed in my ears.

Invincibility!

We were going to have to swing wide on that last corner in front of my house in order to bleed off some momentum. "No problem," I thought. "We'll make it." Nonetheless, a little tremor of uncertainty rippled through me. "Slow down," an inner voice whispered. Instinctively, I tapped the brakes, just a little.

When I saw the car speed into the intersection, directly in my path, my cocky invincibility instantly gave way to panic. I fell to the right to avoid getting hit. My leg got tangled up in the frame of the bike. I skidded to a stop, akimbo and face-down, beside the car's left front quarter panel.

Let me tell you: grinding across 10 yards of pavement on your knee, while terrifying and painful, is a lot better than getting crushed by a car. If my constant companion hadn't whispered, and if I hadn't acted, I might not be writing these words today. I was able to hobble home that evening, thanks to intuition.

The word "intuition" comes from the word "tuition," which didn't always mean a high university bill. Back in the 15th century, "tuition" was defined as "protection, care, or custody." That's a fitting description.

Intuition is an inner well of knowledge and wisdom that's charged with our loving protection and care. We all have it, and we can all use it to enrich our lives.There is no requirement for intuition to work for you. Its whispers are heard by the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the healthy and the feeble. The only thing you need to do to hear intuition whispering to you (and it is whispering to you) is...

Listen. Then act.

Now go create the life of your dreams, knowing that your constant companion, your intuition, walks dutifully by your side.

MTI
www.mtisaac.com
http://spirit.mtisaac.com

The Meaning of the Gallery Event: Connection

2007-02-22T09:36:00.000-06:00

I just got some great feedback about a recent gallery event.

Here's a portion of the email I received:

I was a beliver of talking to the dead before I came, but after leaving I dont know if I belive any more. Which is really sad because that was something I needed to belive. There was 5 of us at that event who were hoping to hear from loved ones,and I know if this was to be a true thing someone would have come through.Its not even the $100.00 we spent, like I said I belived before but not sure I belive anymore.

When I started working as a medium and teacher full time, I made two promises to myself:

The psychic information I received had to be real and verifiable, and
It had to be helpful and healing to my clients.

I can't change your beliefs. Only you can, as only I can change my own. Beliefs are choices we make, each and every day, about what things we want to accept as truth and what things we don't.

Nobody can make you believe anything.

But I sure do want you to agree to believe after each and every event. I want your socks to be knocked off! I want you to be energized and excited and a little awestruck.

That's why, when I first read the email above, it stung a bit: my ego wants to be loved by everyone while helping people believe in this as much as I do. I don't take this person's disappointment personally, but it certainly made me take some time out and think.

Why do I hold these events? What are people getting from it? How can I improve?

I received a wonderful insight yesterday. (Where was I when I got it? That's right! I was in the shower, of course.) I hold these events because:

I want to offer opportunities for conclusive illustrations of the miraculous, permanent, and deep connections we have with everything around us.

I want to offer opportunities to change beliefs.

Only some of the people in each gallery event audience are going to receive a personal message.

But, even though you don't get a direct reading, it doesn't mean you don't get read. Information comes through all the time in the "overlay" format: very detailed and specific information that applies to more than one person in the audience. Let me give you an example.

At one of my first gallery events, I was shown a picture with the Little Rascals on it. There was a big pie in place of the moon, and the words "Pie in the Sky" were printed along the bottom. One of the characters (Porky?) was staring up at the pie in adoration. I got that this was hanging in someone's kitchen.

Pretty specific, huh?

Nobody acknowledged the information for a few minutes. Then a woman raised her hand. She said that the picture was a rare one that her deceased mother had given her long ago. She had it hanging in her kitchen. She had never seen another one and was surprised that the information I got was so detailed.

Another woman raised her hand and said, "Oh my God! I have that same picture in my kitchen! My Mom gave it to me, too! I've never seen another one!"

Overlays. Impressive examples of the spiritual connection, coordination, and foresight that becomes apparent at gallery events.

Even though you may not get a direct reading, it doesn't mean you don't get read!

I'm always looking for ways to improve as a medium and teacher. And as a person!

You have my word that I'll strive to be the best conduit for connection I can possibly be until the day I pass from the physical world.

What I find most humbling about being a medium, though, is that it's not about me. It's really about you. Let me explain.

It's your real and deep emotional connections with those who have passed that allow me to communicate with them; you’re the switchboard operator, I just pick up the party line and see who’s there.

I am not an all-powerful “beckoner of the dead.” I won’t summon, conjure, or otherwise magically command spirits to appear. That, to me, isn’t what this is all about.

What it is about though, is love and faith and healthy skepticism. Before each event, I spend time setting my intention that whatever happens during the event serves our higher good and purpose. Then I “let go” and allow the evening to unfold. I hold my faith that I am there to serve you and that the best will occur without fail.

So what are people getting from these events? Well, that differs with each person, I think. But I'll tell you what I hope people get from attending a gallery event.

As I said above, I hope you leave the auditorium walking on air and feeling the miraculous all around you. I want you to feel loved and connected and joyous. Even if you don't get a direct reading or connect with an overlay, I hope that you still attend and bask in the love that's communicated at each and every gallery event. I hope you're grateful that, even though your expectations for a direct reading may not have been met, others got what they needed at the right moment. And so did you.

I hope you think about agreeing to believe.

The gallery event is a way to intentionally connect--with other attendees, with those who have passed, and with, in a way, all of us. We've all loved and lost. It's this shared experience that bonds us during gallery events, and at all times. We’re the same.

So, if you must have a personal reading, I hope you try a gallery event first. You may receive the blessing of a direct connection there. If not, you can always contact me for a personal consultation session. (And don't worry about payment! I am ALWAYS willing to consider alternative means of exchange, like barter, reduced rates, etc. We can make it work, have no fear.)

Let me end by telling you what Pat, a frequent gallery event attendee, told me a while back:

"Keep up the good work, your galleries are incredible. I don't know why, but they make me tingle, and it is always kind of a sad time when we have to go home."

Share in the joy, share in the "tingle." We're all connected. We're all brothers and sisters.

It’s this core reason I do gallery events. And it’s the main reason I love them so.

I hope you join us (all of us!) soon.

MTI
http://www.mtisaac.com
http://spirit.mtisaac.com

For Jennifer

2007-02-13T16:18:00.000-06:00

On February 13, 1993, you and I were married. I remember that day as if it were yesterday! I bet you do, too.

Since then we've had a wonderful and exciting time together, haven't we!

We've laughed more than yelled. We've cried many more tears of joy than pain. We've sought each other out for comfort much more than we have for confrontation, and we've spent many more quiet and joyous moments than loud or angry ones.

We've explored what it means to be partners. What it means to be married, what it means to be in love.

Together, we've helped present three wonderful people to the world! While we may not always have been right in our parenting decisions, we've always intended the best. I see you in them, and I'm proud and humbled by it. I'm so excited for them! And I'm so excited for us!

Thank you, Jeni, for allowing me to be your partner on this miraculous journey we've undertaken. I look forward to many more years on Earth with you, as well as to the beautiful promise of an eternity by your side.

I love you more this day than I ever thought possible that day those 14 short years ago.

M

Sex in the Tarot Den

2007-01-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

And you wonder why psychics get a bad rap sometimes. Man.

I saw a newspaper article in a local Minneapolis paper today that tarot card reader Miguel Antonio Garcia Garro, also known as "The Maestro," told two young clients that, in order to "examine their energy" they would need to have sex on his desk while he waited in the other room. Then they were to wipe up and submit their drippings to him for analysis. (Go here for more details: http://www.startribune.com/467/story/969423.html)

Thank heavens Garro wrapped their used towelettes in tin foil! Otherwise a true and proper scientific analysis would have been in jeopardy!

This may sound sick and wrong to you. Perhaps that's because it is, on its face, sick and wrong. And that's quite enough for me to begin a rare but inspired rant. But wait, there's more!

Garro allegedly videotaped the whole thing. Oh, yeah, and one of his clients was a minor.
Enter 6 felony charges. "The Maestro" is looking at 52 years in the slammer.

Oh, this disturbs me to my core. Right down to the quick. But not for the reasons you think. Read on.

Many of you know that, when I started this psychic gig, I had two rules: (1) the phenomenon displayed had to be real and verifiable and (2) it had to help both my clients and humanity-at-large. (Nobody ever accused me of thinking small!)

There were, and still are, times when I chafe under the title "psychic" precisely because of the mental fish hooks goofballs like The Maestro set in the collective memory. To be blunt, obvious frauds like this guy give all psychic practitioners a bad name.

But what about the clients? It took 5 episodes of being asked to have sex on a desk in some dingy office in Minneapolis for the couple to suspect something was amiss. 5 times?!? The female client (the 16-year-old), finally noticed what she thought was a stereo speaker, but turned out to be a video camera attached to a VCR in the back room.

So let me set the stage: a 16-year-old girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend solicit the advice of a tarot card reader calling himself The Maestro operating out of some storefront in Minneapolis . They are asked to have sex on his desk and then submit their bodily fluids to said Maestro for energetic analysis (all for the bargain basement price of $750!). The kids become suspicious after their 5th "session" when they spy a camera which turns out to be spying on them.

What tha?

Whew. Deep breath... Relax...

Outside of the obvious and sundry details, it really bothers me that people are so out of touch with their intuitive sense that a situation like this would be possible even once, let alone five times.

It also bothers me that people are so out of touch with their innate intuitive senses that they look to those who are so apparent in their depravity for "saving."

It bothers me that the real and good work that people are doing is lost in a constant slurry of published gore and hate and damp desktops.

So, I beg of you, if someone asks you to cross an obvious personal boundary in the name of things spiritual or energetic, run--don't walk--the other way. Then report them to the police, Better Business Bureau, Rotary, your grumpy mother-in-law, and each and every stranger you meet.
And then, in a moment of quiet, remember that you and only you can make permanent change in your life. You're a more powerful influence in your own life than any psychic, or card reader, or astrologer, or guru. You are infinitely wise. You are beautiful. You are perfect!

And me? Well, I'm just coming down off this rant.

Thanks for listening.

An Intuitive Look at 2007

2007-01-20T08:37:00.000-06:00

I was asked to provide some predictions for the upcoming year by Edge Life Magazine.

What a great opportunity! Instead of forwarding the usual doom and gloom, I wanted to use this chance to help remind everyone that they are sacred, blessed, and special.

This is what I came up with:

It is my prediction that 2007, like all years, will be a year of change and challenge and beautiful opportunity.

In this New Year, obstacles will be overcome. Opportunities will be recognized. There will be tears of both pain and joy. Relationships will dissolve and others will spring up. Love will be found and strengthened, but sometimes its gifts may be just out of reach. We will debate and argue and sometimes make the wrong decisions. We will feel the power of personal triumph.

There will be ski trips and picnics and parties. Snowballs will be thrown. Songs will be sung. Dances will be danced. There will be many first kisses. School will end, and then start all too soon. Jobs will be won, and new passions discovered. Pictures will be painted. Gardens will thrive, and rabbits will seem to thwart our every protection. Sap will run, snow will fall. Beauty will be recognized. Sunsets will be watched. And we will feel that sun shining upon our face.

We will learn! We will experience! We will feel.

Some of us will move to another place in the coming year. Many others will stay where we are. The hope and grace of new life will begin again and again and again.

My most important predictions, though, are these:

You will remember that you are the most powerful force for creation in this Universe. You will love unconditionally. You will discover a hidden talent and then use it. You will help someone. Someone will help you. Your life will continue to have deep and significant meaning.

You will live like you are intrinsically connected to everyone everywhere, and your changes, challenges, and beautiful opportunities make up the perfect balance of this world.

The Year of "I Love You"

2007-01-11T13:23:00.000-06:00

It's already 2007! Whoo hoo! That time just keeps on a'marchin'.

Traditionally, the New Year is a great line of demarcation; a time to reflect upon our successes and failures, as well as to do some goal-setting for the upcoming year.

I'm full of resolve on New Years Day! I make my resolutions with a set jaw, and am fully prepared to see them through.

Unfortunately, I think I've successfully completed one resolution. In my whole life. Thankfully, that one was to stop smoking, and I've been tobacco free for over two years. Whew.

The idea of resolutions was wafting in and out of my mind right before New Years Eve 2006, when I heard a discussion about resolutions on the radio. That got me to thinking... The guests on the show were complaining about the futility and folly of making these pacts with yourself. Why do most resolutions fail to become permanent fixtures in people's lives? Why are they so freakin' difficult to implement?

I think I figured it out. So now I'm going to make 2007 the Year of "I Love You."

In some of my previous posts, I explored the idea that the energy contained in aligned beliefs, thoughts, and emotions is a powerful creative force in the physical world. In short, what you "think about, you bring about."

Gratefulness is also very important, and is closely related. In the Bible, this is apparent in many places. Here's one: I Thessalonians 5:18 says "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you..." This makes me believe that gratitiude is pretty important if we're instructed to hold it "in all circumstances." Not sometimes, or only when we're feeling satisfied with something in our life, but always--even when we're not satisfied with something in our life! Be grateful anyway!

When making resolutions, I realized that I was focusing on the thing I was not satisfied with in my life--the smoking, the extra weight, the mess in my office, my hurried schedule--and not the thing I wanted to create in my life.

I was focused on what I perceived as negative. And I certainly wasn't grateful. But knowing what you don't want is the first step toward knowing what you do want!

So... How does this translate into The Year of "I Love You"?

What I find is that, in order to create what you want, you have to be grateful for and love what you have right now.

Simply put, if you bring about what you think about, then thinking about things that make you feel grateful will bring about more things in your life that make you feel grateful. Being grateful forces an internal shift and opens the floodgates, so to speak, of creation.

If you have trouble seeing a really practical way to do this (who is grateful for that extra weight?), then think of it this way: the things you've created but want to change in your life are wonderful opportunities for you! Just imagine your sense of accomplishment and wonder at the power of creation when you manifest your desires!

So I'm doing this in the upcoming year: when I realize that I have a thought that is more about what I don't want than what I do want, I'm going to say "Thank you. I love you." to the situation or circumstance that spawned the thought.

An internal shift can happen just by thinking this. Try it right now: think of something in your life that makes you uncomfortable. Now, while focusing on this situation or circumstance, say, "Thank you. I love you." Can you feel the subtle difference? Just by thinking gratefulness and love, you emit gratefulness and love!

And that brings you more thankfulness and love. Cool!

So when you're working on your resolutions for the New Year, be sure to focus on (1) what you do want and (2) gratefulness and love.

The creative power of the Universe will consistently astound and amaze you as it has me. Do these two simple things, and futility and folly will be, gratefully, obstacles long since conquered.

The Monster in the Closet

2006-12-11T09:46:00.000-06:00

Fear. It can paralyze us if we let it.

I teach a class entitled "Practicing the Miraculous: Creating Everyday Miracles for Yourself and Others." It's about aligning your Beliefs, Thoughts, and Emotions to support rather than subvert your goals and to change your life. I teach this class because I've been using this idea, however subconsciously, all my life to reach my goals.

One of the class sessions is devoted to overcoming the natural fear that's usually dredged up when we "change the rules" of the life we've created.

I'm in the middle of a big cloud of fear right now and wanted to tell you all a little about it. But before I do, I'd like to talk a little about two of my all-time favorite people (and, I'll bet, two of yours, as well): James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski.

These characters used to thrive on fear. They used fear as an energy source, even. It was their daily mission to scare others, and they were really good at it. Together, they virtually set records on the amount of chaos and terror they instilled.

No, I'm not talking about politicians (although I certainly could be...). I'm sure you already know that I'm talking about Sulley and Mike, the main characters in the Disney movie Monsters, Inc, as played by John Goodman and Billy Crystal. (Can you visualize Mike's big eye?)

In this movie, Sulley would teleport into a child's closet in the middle of the night. He'd then burst into the room and collect their screams and shrieks as energy for Monstropolis. The more terror he caused, the longer the lights would stay on.

Well, although nothing has burst from it, I really feel like there's a monster in my closet. And, although I don't expect a blue hairy creature to spring into my room and collect my screams, the fear is surging just like I am expecting it.

I'm afraid of losing some things in my life that I've come to rely upon. I'm afraid of not being supported in this new career I've chosen. I'm afraid of being scorned by friends and family for choosing a new career as...shudder...a professional psychic! I'm afraid that what I do isn't good enough, and that it doesn't help enough.

All these fears are, I know!, in my head. They're mental perceptions rather than physical realities.
But I fear them nonetheless. And that fear is sometimes paralyzing!

So why am I blogging about this? Shouldn't I just focus on the positive and not even think about this negative crapola?

No. This is my reality and I'm neck-deep in it. And it's not, in my opinion, a "bad" thing to discuss the challenges we encounter. And if what I'm going through can help just one person out there... Well... that's a really good thing.
In the movie, Sulley and Mike stumble upon the knowledge that laughter is a much better energy source than terror. I know that, as well. Heck, I've seen it working in my own life, as I'm sure you have.

This is the principle and the knowledge that has, so far, kept that monster in my closet and not roaring into my room in the middle of the night:

Life is supposed to be easy, joyous, and abundant.

I'm working on it.

More to come.

Day of Thanks

2006-11-23T08:59:00.000-06:00

The Mayflower dropped anchor in the cold waters of Cape Cod Bay on November 21, 1620, after a long and arduous journey across the Atlantic.

The travelers called themselves Separatists, as they were making the journey from Europe in search of freedom of worship. The term Pilgrim was later coined by one of their leaders, William Bradford. Literally, the word means "far afield" and is usually applied to those making long journeys of deep religious significance.

Their devotion did not see the settlers safely through to Spring, however. The Pilgrims were woefully prepared for that first American winter. Sickness and starvation claimed nearly half their number.

In the spring Native Americans taught their new neighbors how to hunt, fish, and farm. In the spirit of cooperation, the Pilgrims and the Native American leader Massasoit of the Wampanoag tribe signed a treaty that provided for mutual protection in case of attack from outside enemies, as well as a peace between the peoples.

The next autumn, in 1621, a bountiful harvest was enjoyed by all. As was the Puritan custom, the settlers designated a special day of thanks for God's blessings.

The significance of these events was not lost on Bradford. Years later he wrote:

"Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shown unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation..."

Abraham Lincoln signed the proclamation that made Thanksgiving Day an official American holiday on October 3, 1863, in the midst of the terrible and costly Civil War. More Americans were killed in this war than in all other American conflicts combined, from the colonial period to today.

Lincoln called on us to become of one mind in his Proclamation; to focus on healing, restoration, and unity:

"I...invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

"And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union."

It seems that our world today is in turmoil. We regularly read of disaster and death and pain and suffering in many places.

But there is great peace here, too! There is laughter and love.

In my work, I meet with many people who find themselves in the depths of grief, confusion, and many times outright and fiery anger. However, the messages I routinely get from those who have passed are those of hope, healing, and forgiveness.

Above all, these messages urge us to be thankful for the majestic bounty with which we, like the seekers of 1620, have been blessed.

In addition to being thankful for my beautiful family, the amazing abundance in my life, and the love and healing that I feel and see each and every day, I am thankful for you and that you are reading these words.

It is my hope for you, on this Thanksgiving Day, that you are one small candle that lights a thousand others, and that you are healed, restored and filled with Divine purpose.

Today and forever.

A Case for Letting Go

2006-10-17T07:22:00.000-06:00

I've been putting wainscoting up in my family room recently. One of the parts of the job I enjoy is strapping that really manly utility belt onto my waist. It bristles with screwdrivers, tape measures, and nail sets, has a hook for my cordless drill and a ring from which to hang my hammer, and its pouches are stuffed with bolts, screws, nails, brads, and the odd assorted pieces of projects-gone-by.

I love putting on that belt.All my tools are close at hand. Everything useful and in its place.
That belt makes me feel powerful.

This morning I was attempting to make a straight four foot cut with my circular saw (not an easy prospect for me, unfortunately). I struggled with my big straightedge and clamps while making a jig for the cut. I needed to hold a bunch of screws but didn't have room in my belt--all the pouches were stuffed full.

Rather than take the time to empty one pouch of the well-worn hinges I took off my front door last spring, though, I stuck the screws, all 12 or so of them, in my mouth. I'll bet I looked like some half-crazed tailor! (Black phosphate drywall screws taste really bad, by the way)

I started driving the screws. First one, no problem. Before I realized what I was doing, I reached for the second screw held between my lips...and conked myself straight in the nose with the butt end of the cordless drill still gripped in my right hand.

I think I may have said something indelicate. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure I did just that.
Moral of the story: take the time to clean out your tool belt before you absolutely need it to be clean.

After my bruised pride healed a bit (my nose is still sore, however) I thought a bit about what happened. It really wasn't a big deal, but I find that the big lessons rarely are.

Those old hinges that clogged my tool belt were very useful in their time. They served their purpose faithfully for many years. They opened many a door. But when the need arose, I replaced those hinges with something else that better served my current purposes and goals.

But then they sat unnoticed, doing nothing but taking up space, in my tool belt.

When I needed more room for my drywall screws, I took the easy way out rather than cleaning up those old things that, while once very useful, are now the wrong tools for the job.

Now I don't want to turn this into something bigger than it is by intimating that these hinges are some wonderful analogue for creating the life you've always dreamed of... Well, wait. Yes, I think I want to do just that.

Some of my clients have recently been struggling with letting go of thoughts, actions, events, and people in their past. They maintain strong energetic ties to these entities and find that their current life circumstances are stagnant. They want positive change, but aren't finding its trigger.

They're carrying around the bits and pieces of some old projects.

If you read any of my essays, you may know that I wholeheartedly believe that thoughts are nothing but energy. Everything is nothing but energy, really. Also, I am a firm believer in the notion that we shape the entirety of our lives by focusing our energy: our beliefs, thoughts, and emotions. In short, what we focus on becomes a part of our life. This is immutable law, in my opinion.

Let's equate the (now tired!) tool belt analogy to life in general... The wainscoting project is like my goals in a certain area of my life. Strengthening my relationship with my children, let's say. To make things simple, let's also say that my tool belt and its tools stands for the virtual levers and pliers and nails I think I need to get these goals built in my life. These are my current set of beliefs, thoughts, and emotions.

If the beliefs, thoughts, and emotions I'm carrying around aren't the most effective tools to help build my desired goal state, I may have some difficulty.

Let me give you an example. When Ben was young, we would use some silly little games at the dinner table to get him to eat his vegetables. At the time, these were some really useful techniques, and they got us all cracking up, too. I still remember the cute look on his face!

Do you think that it would be useful for me to keep the belief that silly games played at age 6 can help bring about desired behavior at age 16? Will applying this belief get me closer to my goal of strengthening my relationship with Ben? I think not. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect.
How many times have you tried to do a wrench's job with an old pair of pliers? Or use a slotted screwdriver to tighten a Phillips head screw? See what I mean?

My mother always used to say, "If it's not easy, it's not right." Now, I know this maxim flies in the face of a lot of pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps thought, but it really applies to both weekend carpentry and creating the life of your dreams.

If you don't have the right tools in your belt and you're continually bonking yourself square in the nose, take a look for some old and out-of-date beliefs, thoughts, and emotions you might be carrying around.

It's likely you just need to let go of a few things in order to make room for some new things.

Happy projects to you all. And give me a call if you're a carpenter!

Cycle of Renewal

2006-09-20T08:02:00.000-06:00

Here in Minnesota, autumn is in the air! I had numb toes for the first time this fall at my son's football game last night (a big win, by the way! Whoo hoo!). Even though I love the warmth of summer, I really enjoy this time of year. Autumn is beautiful here in the Great White North!

Image courtesy Crow Wing Crest Lodge, Walker, MN
http://www.crowwing.com/

The change of seasons is an amazing cycle that we all depend upon and expect to happen like...well...the change of seasons. I think we would all agree that, regardless of our wishes or actions, time will march on. The cycle will continue.

The ouroboros is an age-old sign of this cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. It's typically illustrated as a serpent swallowing its own tail, and has been used since ancient Egyptian times (approximately 1600 BCE). Even Cleopatra drew the Ouroboros in her alchemical journals.

This symbol is widely-accepted, too. Close variations of the ouroboros are found in Indian, Native American, Japanese, Chinese, Norse, Hindu, Aztec, Tibetan, and many more ancient mythologies.

Ouroboros. Image courtesy Wikipedia

Typically, the ouroboros is colored half light and half dark, as well. This is thought to symbolize that, along this infinite cycle, there exist balanced and opposing forces of light and dark. Be careful of equating "light" and "dark" to "good" and "bad" though, because your "good" might be someone else's "bad" and vice versa. Think of it more as daytime and nighttime. This inherent pattern of our planet is what we've come to require in order to survive. Nighttime is not "bad," it's just "dark!"

This thought is also behind the origin of the "yin-yang" or taijitu symbol. Literally, taijitu translates to "diagram of the supreme ultimate." This balance of energies is the basis for many schools of both Eastern and Western philosophy.

Taijitu.
Image courtesy Jung Tao School of Classical Chinese Medicine
http://www.jungtao.com/

As a matter of fact, you may recognize the symbol below. It's called the "lemniscate" (Latin for "ribbon") but is typically referred to as "infinity" and signifies just that--an unbounded limit--in mathematics.

Infinity.
Courtesy Conservation OnLine (CoOL), Stanford University Libraries

While its actual origins of the lemniscate are still unclear, the connections between this symbol for infinity and a variation of the ouroboros (and maybe even the taijitu, as well) are rather straightforward, as illustrated below.

Image courtesy Alchemy Lab
http://www.alchemylab.com/

The ancients were aware that we are a part of an infinitely vast dance of creation and destruction. That death brings about the opportunity for life.

But I've come to realize that death is not "The End," rather it is only an end. Like the ouroboros and the lemniscate, what we perceive as death is only the completion of a cycle that marches forward toward infinity. It's a cycle in which we are active participants, not bystanders.

In my work as a medium, I spend a lot of time with people who are grieving the loss of loved ones. This aspect of death is a part of my job. Although the amount of learning and growth that this cycle can offer us is great, it's only our choices that truly affect our experience here.

I recently did a reading for a woman at a gallery event. Her daughter had passed and came through powerfully. I got the feeling that I had a lump in my throat and that words were left unsaid. Important words.

It turns out that, because of an argument, this mother and her daughter chose, however emotionally, not to express their mutual love when they parted one day many months ago. Minutes later, the woman's daughter was dead. While the torment of the subsequent months certainly provided an opportunity for learning, I don't think any of us would consciously choose to receive messages of love through a third party. But we seem to always think there's a "tomorrow" or a "next time."

Thankfully, the mother in this case was able to get a clear message of love from her daughter at the gallery event. That doesn't always happen, however diligent we mediums are. Whether to act, to express your feelings, to forgive, to leave--the choice is always there. Always.

Choice is one of the main engines of our physical reality.

So I urge you to choose to talk to your loved ones. Ask them how they're feeling. Choose to tell them how you feel. Hug them. Love them. Do what you can do TODAY to help them feel precious. For they are precious, just as each and every one of us is precious. And they are loved, just as each and every one of us is loved.

But don't stop there. We're all vital parts of this never-ending cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth. As such, all entities on this planet are our siblings.

While we may not yet be able to stop or reverse this cycle of renewal, we can make choices that enrich the journey for all of us. We can choose to love rather than hate. We can choose to inquire rather than to fear. Tolerate rather than vilify. Soothe rather than injure.

Collectively, we are one. The choices we make affect all others.

Love them spring, summer, fall, and winter.

In the Waiting Line

2006-07-20T14:38:00.000-06:00

I decided to forego the continuation of my continuing discussion of Healing and the Holographic Principle for a few more days, simply because of a song.

It's a really good song, though. I guess it better be to pull me off a heady topic like explaining trans-psychophysiology (or attempting to begin to try to perhaps explain my little brain's perception of it, anyway...). It's one of those songs that'll turn your head 'round when heard for the first time. It grabbed me and hasn't let go yet. You just gotta ask why these things happen sometimes.

The song I'm talking about is In the Waiting Line by Zero 7.

Why is this song, out of the 5800 on my MP3 player, getting my attention now? Well, it's got a good beat, and you can dance to it... But seriously, it's the amalgamation of the lyrics and chords and camber of the song that are doing it. A couple of weeks ago, it didn't do much for me other than get my fingers a' snappin'. Now it has a deeper meaning that speaks to the human experience.

I was working with a client a few weeks ago, and kept getting the feeling that I was waiting for something. I couldn't quite put my finger on what I was waiting for, but I felt like I was absolutely waiting for something, almost to the point of suffering acute anxiety. And this was certainly psychic information, not "me" information. So, I relayed the feeling.

She responded immediately; the heartfelt words flowed like they'd been waiting years to be released. "Yes," she said. "I'm waiting to feel like I belong to something in life. I'm waiting to be loved. I'm waiting to feel passion--about anything--in my life. I'm waiting to feel like life's not passing me by." The ache in her voice and in the lines on her face spoke the volumes of pain and alienation she'd been feeling.

Some words from the Zero 7 song popped into my head at that moment:

Nine to five
Living lies
Everyday
Stealing time
Everyone's taking everything they can

That thought spawned a lengthy discussion about job vs. vocation and finding that irresistible urge--that overarching Life's Work--which can so effectively elude our best efforts at identification, especially when we're looking for something unanticipated. It turned out to be a powerful conversation.

After the session, as I was driving home, I reflected on the session and the time my client spent waiting. I thought about how many of us give others the power to affect our desired outcomes and, as a result, our happiness. Then, waiting (naturally!) for the light to turn green and then again at the car wash, I realized that there are many types of waiting; there is the powerful form of waiting for an opportunity, and then there's the relatively powerless form: waiting for an action. Let me explain.

When we're waiting for an opportunity, it's like we're coiled and ready to spring--all we need is the opportune moment to make the call, sell the stock, discuss the change, ask for the raise, buy the house, etc., etc. We are taking the initiative to act when instructed by circumstance. It's a fluid way to wait, I think. We continually assess situations and remain open to all possibilities while searching for opportunity, for we usually don't know what specific opportunities looks like. They come in many forms! This is a powerful and proactive way to wait, in my opinion.

However, when we're waiting for an action, we're looking for something specific, like a time, or a comment, or a facial expression, or some other desired threshold. Many times, the format of this thing for which we wait was constructed by our affected mentality; it's been shaped by our little prejudices, our (sometimes not little) ego, our desires, our other Earthly concerns. In a more defined linear, sequential, or cause-and-effect scenario, this mode of waiting is certainly warranted, as in software development, where sequential logic is the lifeblood. What happens, though, when we're waiting for our ship to come in, but opportunity decides to walk up to our front door? We don't recognize the knock for what it is, and we can miss out. Sometimes painfully so.

I contemplated these differences for a while while motoring back home, and tried to find a common thread; some way to boil this down and better understand it. It's taken a few weeks (I'm sometimes pretty slow...), in fact.

What I found is that the important distinction between the two types of waiting, and also between opportunities taken and opportunities missed is intent.

Skeptics come with the territory when you're "out there" as a psychic. Now, I probably don't have to tell you that I'm pretty skeptical of much of the information I'm given. I always seek corroboration, and many times more than one form of it. But I think I'm also pretty open to this corroboration in whatever form it takes. I ask for it, and then accept it as it comes. And it certainly does come.

There are some skeptical persons out there who don't accept corroboration unless it fits their definitions, sometimes because their intent is, at the heart of it, to not accept what is being shown to them. Professional skeptics fit this model, I think. Their modality is the stringent and repeated denial of miracles. Miracles put them right out of business, so to speak, so they intend on always finding a way to discount or to disprove.

On the other hand, allowing healthy skepticism to be assuaged by openness and observation can lead to miracles. Especially when the intent is to ask, verify, and receive all within reasonable expectations.

One of my clients received an amazing reading a few weeks ago. A relative of hers came though with empowering and accurate information that I found just wonderful. Big "life" details, little personal details... It was all right on. I was all tingly! After the session, though, my client looked a little down in the dumps. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"I still don't quite believe in the Other Side," she mumbled. "This just didn't do it for me."

My jaw fell. "Really? The information seemed really accurate and had a powerful and timely message for you and where you are in your life," I said. "Tell me more."

"Well..." she sighed after a little pause. "I told my mother that she needed to come through with some specific bits of information in order for me to believe. I have a bunch of people that are counting on me to get this information so they believe, too. But it didn't happen. She didn't come through for me..." Tears welled in her eyes.

I want all of us to believe in the majesty of the "normal paranormal" in this life. That's why I do this work! So while I really felt for my client and her desires, I was more than a bit crestfallen that she had so easily passed over the verification and integration her uncle had lovingly brought forth in order to stick to her constructed preconception. This majesty was partially lost because of the script she expected to hear.

This, I think, was an example of waiting for an action, and not looking for an opportunity. While waiting for a specific action (or piece of information from the Other Side, in this example), opportunity's insistent knocking was dampened.

Which brings me right to another verse of the Zero 7 song (interesting how that circle fills itself, eh?):

Do you believe
In what you see

It is my rooted belief that, in order to see the miraculous, each of us must ask to see the miraculous. But it's not just that. After we ask to see it, we need to look for and accept the way in which it's presented to us. Even if it's in a way that we're not expecting.

Try it. Then send me an email. Let me know how the miraculous is shaping your life!

I wish for you a short and fruitful wait.

Healing and the Holographic Principle, Part 3

2006-06-22T07:12:00.000-06:00

Ancient traditions describe a universal library of mystical information that contains record of events, thoughts, intents, and emotions from all time (including the future!) and in all places. Many ancient cultures: Druids, Indians, Moors, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, Tibetans, and more, held the belief that, with the proper preparation, humans could access these records.

Modern day prophets and spiritualists like Edgar Cayce also claimed that this storehouse of information, this Akashic Records (Akasha is Sanskrit for “sky,” “space,” or “æther”)1, is what is presented to us for review upon our passing from this world. In today’s terms, this cosmic library can possibly be described as “the Universe’s super computer” and has been written about for æons.2 Hey! I just used the weird character "æ" twice in one paragraph! I've used a ligature! Wow! Ummm... Sorry for interrupting.

This Akashic Records talk is just crazy “woo woo” stuff, you say? Hold on a second, pardner. Science seems to be “catching up” with this ancient thought.

The “A-Field” I mentioned in my last posting is a contraction of the Akashic Field, so named by physicist Ervin Laszlo in his book Science and the Akashic Field, as an intersection of ancient and “modern” thought. He describes the field as “an interconnecting, information-conserving, and information-conveying cosmic field” which “informs…the entire web of life, [including] our consciousness.”

So, let’s say this field exists. Let’s also throw caution to the wind for a moment and give credence to the ideas of nonlocality (that entangled particles react as one, regardless of the distance separating them) and the quantum hologram (simply, the parts contain the whole). Anyone see a pattern beginning to emerge here?

An Akashic field pervading the Universe that transcends time (it has to if all information—even future potentialities—is stored there, right?) and matter sounds a lot like the theory of the quantum hologram. Nonlocality, for that matter, could be a direct result of the field, couldn’t it? If one piece of the field contains non-time-constrained information about the whole field, then seemingly unrelated parts that react to one another are certainly possible. For example, let’s say our two familiar particles—A in Minneapolis and B in Paris—are set a' spinnin' clockwise again. Our intrepid researchers in Minnesota tweak A to spin counterclockwise. Immediately and without the slightest delay, particle B in Paris begins to spin the same way, when it would have taken a beam of light 0.184 seconds to travel the 4213 miles between Minneapolis and Paris. But if particle B in Paris already “knew” when and how particle A was going to change its spin, the complementary movement wouldn’t be such a big deal, would it? That’s the idea of the A-Field: everything informs and is able to act upon and interact with everything else in the Universe. Instantaneously.

OK, OK! Uff da! Enough with the Minnesotan particles, already! What the heck does this have to do with healing? Well, I’ll tell ya.

Let’s say our friend Jane has developed the skill of interacting with the A-Field. She can, as the ancients described, prepare herself in such a way that the Akashic Records are accessible to her. Let’s also say that Jane knows she can increase the healthy state of my liver (just as our Parisian particle “knew” about its Minnesotan partner’s spin). Because everything in the Universe informs, is able to act upon, and can interact with everything else in the Universe (and Jane and my liver are things in the Universe, right?), she should be able to “read” the less-than-optimal health state of an organ then influence its spin to bring it back into health. Instantaneously.

If we believe what science is now telling us about our Universe, then we need to evolve into the knowledge that we hold an inherent power beyond any we’ve ever dreamed possible. It seems as though our “less evolved” ancestors already knew of this power. We’ve forgotten it, in large part. It’s time to un-forget.

How, though? How do we harness this power? How do we un-forget how to use it?

All we need to do is think about it.

Continues…

Healing and the Holographic Principle: Part 2

2006-01-18T18:12:00.000-06:00

The first study on the effectiveness of spiritual pursuits on health was one published in 1872 by Sir Francis Galton entitled “Statistical inquiries into the efficacy of prayer.” (link) Galton correlated various strata of society at the time (i.e., Members of Royal Houses, Clergy, Lawyers, Gentry, Officers of the Army, etc.) to both their published longevity and “prayerfulness”—unfortunately, this is a label Galton arrived at by means less-than-accepted by today’s more advanced scientific methods. Interestingly, Galton found no correlation between prayerfulness and longevity.

Regardless of outcome, an important bit to take away from this study is that spirit’s effect upon health has been intriguing scientists for over 130 years.

Since this study, there have been a myriad of investigations conducted on the effects of concentrated thought and intention upon one’s own health. The placebo effect and biofeedback are two examples of well-researched and documented phenomena in psychophysiology. It has been proven beyond much doubt that, with proper preparation, we can affect the state of our physical body’s health using only our mind.

But what about trans-psychophysiology? Can we affect physical change between persons?

As the Magic 8-Ball would shout, “All signs point to ‘yes!’”

Pardon my flip answer, but these developments excite me. Imagine it: for the first time in recorded (read: discovered) history, mainstream science—traditionally the ultimate in accomplished groups of naysayers—is finding that people can bring about real physiologic changes in others, regardless of the time and distance separating the two. (Time? Really? Yup. We’ll get back to that in Part 3...)

Mystics and sages have been practicing what scientists are calling transpersonal psychophysiology for centuries. Like other true practitioners, they have ignored any external derision and skepticism and have simply worked to create positive change in their “patients.” Blessedly, they continue.

But I think we can all feel the change that’s afoot these days. The energy level of the world and its inhabitants is elevating. The traditional “one-sy, two-sy” healing and preparatory approach is still very effective, but it’s simply too slow to keep us all in synch with the vibrational frequency changes now occurring. That’s why, in my opinion, we’re seeing so many groundbreaking studies in parapsychology these days: “critical consciousness” has been reached, and it’s leading our best and brightest to examine previously-shunned areas of study: ESP, energy healing, telekinesis, etc. We need to know how this stuff works and start using it. Now.

But how does it work? Back to quantum physics.

In Part 1, I described the theory of nonlocality. This is, according to John Cramer of the University of Washington at Seattle (link), “the mysterious ability of Nature to enforce correlations between separated but entangled parts of a quantum system that are out of speed-of-light contact, to reach faster-than-light across vast spatial distances or even across time itself to ensure that the parts of a quantum system are made to match.”

Kind of thick for the layperson. Let’s break it down a little bit.

The first part states that nonlocality is “the mysterious ability of Nature to enforce correlations between separated but entangled parts of a quantum system…” OK. Some definitions are in order here.

In basic terms, a “quantum system” is something that can be described using the theories of quantum mechanics. Not that helpful, huh? Let’s define “entangled parts” first, and see if that helps.

An entangled system is made of objects that are related by “quantum entanglement:” parts that have been complementary to each other in the past and, regardless of separation, continue to affect complimentary states instantly. How about an example?

=Let’s say we have two particles, A and B. In our laboratory in Minneapolis, A and B are prepared so that when particle A spins clockwise, B spins counterclockwise, and vice versa. Now we box up particle B and ship it off to our other laboratory in Paris, 4213 miles away. There, our researchers call us in Minneapolis then take a look at the spin of particle B. We note that particle A is still spinning clockwise, particle B still counterclockwise. While on the phone, we in Minneapolis nudge particle A to spin counterclockwise. “Sacré bleu!” the researchers in Paris exclaim. “Particle B has just begun to spin clockwise!” Then we nudge particle A back into a clockwise state. “Mon dieu!” they cry. “Particle B is now spinning counterclockwise!” Particles A and B are said, in this case, to be entangled. Seemingly instantaneously, they communicate and then respond to changes in their current state, regardless of separating distances.

The speed of this “communication” between entangled particles has been estimated at a billion times the speed of light (186,000,000,000,000 miles per second, or 31 light years per second, or 0.82 seconds to Vega!), but there are ongoing discussions as to whether this is way too high or way too low. Regardless, it’s an amazing development.

If 186,000 miles per second is the speed limit of matter in the Universe, how can communication travel so much faster?

Enter the A-Field.

Continued in Part 3...

Just Do It

2006-01-05T09:12:00.000-06:00

The nation was recently glued to the television, yet again, while a story of life-and-death unfolded for all to see. How I came to be glued to the television, and what happened then is another story I'll remember forever.

I was lying in bed Monday night 02 January, 2006, reading with my wife, when a spirit approached. I was surprised and happy to talk to Dick (yes, that was his real name), a friend and accomplished medical doctor in this life. He passed unexpectedly over a year ago, and we have communicated only a few times since then. I struggled to get clear messages those times. I really like Dick, though, and was eager to communicate with him again.

“Turn on CNN,” Dick sent. I did.

A small town in West Virginia, Tallmansville, was the setting of Wolf Blitzer’s live coverage. Much of the country watched while efforts were made to rescue 13 men trapped after explosions clogged their only egress, as well as made the mine’s ventilation system inoperable.

Dick wanted me to do something for these miners and their families. “What should I do?” I thought. No answer.

I waited. “He’s gone,” I finally said. He touched me. He wasn’t gone at all. I just interpreted his silence as absence. “Wait. He’s not gone.” We were simply having a little trouble “synching up.”

“Talk to me,” Dick sent. It seems that I needed to actually physically intone questions and answers in order to communicate more effectively with Dick. This is different from other spirits with which I’ve communicated. Now the game of astral 20 Questions began. But the line of communication was much stronger.

Wolf was talking to the governor of West Virginia. Prayer was mentioned more than a few times. “What should I do, Dick?” No answer. I felt like I was on Jeopardy, for heaven’s sake… Yes or no questions. “Should I pray for these people?” Strong yes. (When I say “yes” or “strong yes” this is my interpretation of the “spirit shivers” I get when I’m touched from the astral. A “strong yes” is a strong or protracted series of “shivers”—the strength of the sensation determines therefore the strength of my positive or negative interpretation). “Will that really help?” Strong yes. Even though I knew it would, I felt the need to ask.

I said a cursory prayer and rolled over. Dick touched me. "Just do it," he sent.

Jennifer and I prayed. After our prayers, I felt like my communication with Dick had been ended for the night, so we went to sleep, confident in the knowledge that what we did helped in some way.

Tuesday was a normal day. I worked from home for the morning, as did Jennifer. She had appointments later in the day, and left the house around 1030. Dick came to me shortly thereafter. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised and more than a bit anxious to see if our session the evening before would be continued.

Remembering our method of communication forged the night before, I began by voicing yes/no questions. “Do you want me to help these people again?” Strong yes. “Should I do a remote healing for them?” Strong yes. Oh, boy. “Will this be effective? Can I really heap them?” Very strong yes. “Are they still alive?” Strong yes. I was thrown for a bit of a loop here. “Are you sure I can help them?” Reports indicated that carbon monoxide levels within the mine were incapable of sustaining life, thereby dashing much of the hope in a happy resolution—I was already thinking the miners were dead. I was a little skeptical of Dick’s information. Strong yes. “Really?” My head was really in the way! Strong yes. Dick is a patient man in the astral, as he was in life.

“Do I do a normal healing?” Slight yes. “Will I know what to do?” Yes. “Will I really help them?” Strong yes.

OK, then.

I was feeling apprehensive that I wouldn't "know what to do" with such a famous case (yes, it sounds goofy when I read it, but that's what I was thinking at the time!), and that I would screw it up.

"Just do it!" Dick sent. Again.

On the CNN web site I found a partial list (only 9 of the 13) of the miners’ names. I printed this and grabbed a wonderful smooth rock from Lake Superior as an energetic stand-in. I prepared to do a remote healing.

What I did in the next 90 minutes I still find hard to explain. I used a “technique” I’ve never used before. I waved my arms. I said uncharacteristic things. I made weird sounds. I clapped. I stomped my feet. I took deep, gasping breaths. Whatever I did, it was powerful and, well…real.

As I went through the names on the list, I saw these miners, these fathers and sons and husbands and brothers. Respirators, hard hats, heavy coats, filthy dirty, extracting and attempting to clean grainy respiration filters. They were slumped at the furthest reaches of the mine behind a protective barrier of some sort. They were almost gone. As I worked on their energy bodies they woke up, one by one. They opened their eyes. They breathed for a few precious minutes.

I was just doing it, but I was also questioning my efforts. Why was I doing this? Because you're a healer. But, if I wasn't sure to save lives, why was I doing it at all? I simply didn't understand. Then it came to me:

I think was doing this so the miners could write last letters to their families.

Now, days later, we know that only one miner survived the crisis. Randy McCloy, Jr. is in critical condition as of the writing of these words. He was the youngest of the 13, and the one who I identified during my healing sessions as “a strong one.” I heard today that these men also wrote letters to their families.

I really have no way of knowing, apart from an inner knowledge, whether I affected positive change in that mine. I also know that there were hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of people sending these men healing energy at the same time I was. I know I helped, but I have no way of proving it in a scientific way, just as you have no way of really and concretely proving if these words are true. You might just intrinsically know, as I do, that this is what happened. Maybe you don't.

What I want to do is bring attention to the reality of physically manifest, transpersonal communication and healing. I know that, in time, the proof will need to be brought forth in order for mass adoption of the practice. And it is, even now. The National Institutes of Health Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine lists 100,000+ citations from conventional research databases on the phrase ‘alternative medicine.’ There are past and ongoing studies proving the effectiveness of transpersonal communication and healing. It seems as though the fact that this stuff is real and effective is gaining momentum in the mainstream.

So what should you do?

Keep praying. Meditate. If you feel moved to send healing energy to someone or a group of people, do it. Don’t worry about methods. Don’t worry about certifications. Just sit down, center your thoughts, and send it however you’re moved to do it.

But just do it. You could be helping people in ways you've never imagined.

Healing and the Holographic Principle: Part 1

2005-12-08T14:04:00.000-06:00

The universe is really nothing but energy. It's what "New Age" gurus have been telling us all along.
Quantum physicists tell us that the source component of the molecule, atom, quark, photon, lepton, and all other units of discovered universal matter are energy. That's all. Just energy.

Then the quantum mechanics theory of nonlocality shows us that instantaneous communication and influence over matter is possible regardless of separation by time or distance. Sorta makes the kooky ideas of ESP, mediumship, energy healing, telekinesis, energy work, etc., etc. seem not so kooky after all, eh?

What if, instead of communication over large tracts of space or time, every packet of energy contained the sum total of everything that has happened, is happening, or will happen at every point in the Universe? Sound even kookier?

That's precisely what scientists call the Holographic Principle: that our universe is organized like a giant hologram--a light painting that, when illuminated with lasers, shows a brilliant 3D image. Holograms also display the curious property of "containing the whole within the parts:" when divided, holograms still display the whole, albeit fuzzier, original image. Smaller divisions of the original still contain the original, as well.

So, what's this have to do with healing? Before we delve into this, let's summarize what we have here.

First, matter is an illusion. A perception. It's only energy.

Second, there appears to be no Universal "speed limit:" the speed of light can be routinely exceeded within the theory of nonlocality.

Third, every piece of matter (therefore every packet of energy) is encoded with information about all past, present, and future events everywhere in the Universe.

Whoa. This means that, if we knew how, we could ostensibly access full knowledge about anything that ever happened, is happening, or will happen.\

It's the explanation of all "paranormal" activities. All of them!

But now, back to healing.

To heal is defined as "to restore to health or soundness." For simplicity's sake, let us presuppose that those needing healing were (a) once healthy and/or sound and (b) this healthy, sound state is again attainable.

Let's take the example of my liver. Let's say it was operating at a less-than-efficient level (this isn't the case, by the way!). This crucial organ, made of matter, ensures my life or death as a more complex organism, also made of matter. Quantum theory states that matter is an illusion. It's only energy.

So my liver's "unhealthy" functioning is based on an energy state, as is its healthy functioning. Something must have changed in the energy or its "flow" in order to change from a healthy state to an unhealthy one.

Ancient "energy healers" (as well as some modern ones) knew this. They concentrated on repairing the energy flow, or Qi of an individual. Reiki practitioners know that, by strengthening and revitalizing another's energy fields through willful intent and channeling of "Universal life force" energy (the Universe is nothing but energy, right?), they can bring about miraculous and sometimes instant physical healing.

But where is the scientific evidence? We already know that, if the Holographic Principle is valid, then all knowledge is available to us. But is there scientific proof that the makeup and/or flow of matter/energy can be influenced? Is there proof that energy can be brought from one state into another with "mere" intent?

Yes. Lots of it.

More to come...

UFOs and Visitors

2004-07-14T10:59:00.000-06:00

Mr. Pendleton sweeps into your cubicle, his girth blocking the harsh fluorescent light for a blessed moment. "Jones," he says. "Have a minute?" It's more of a command than a question.

Pendleton, as Chairman of your company, hardly ever makes his prodigious presence known on your floor. He tends to sequester himself on the upper floors - keeping tabs on employees, keeping the machinery oiled, and now, since the sudden resignation of your CEO, generally keeping vigil. "Uh, yes, Mr. Pendleton." You shuffle some papers. "What can I do for you?"
"I need a word, Jones." He puts a meaty hand on your shoulder. "My office?" Again, more of a command.

On the way to Pendleton's suite on the top floor, you reflect on your years with the company. As they're about to come to an end (or so you guess), you run through the sorry details of your finances. Oh, no. How are you going to pay for your daughter's tuition? Your mortgage? Your wife said she had a feeling this was coming. You don't play by their rules, she said. You don't aspire, she said. You're not top management material, she said. She's right, but you don't care about the corporate game. You do good work. You're a solid employee: trustworthy, logical, loyal, hard-working. You never thought it would cost you your job.

You sit in an enveloping leather chair and see your financial life flash before your eyes.

"Jones, I'll get right to the point. I want you as the company's new CEO. Why? You don't play by the normal rules. You don't put your aspirations in front of the work. You're not the typical management candidate. You're loyal, hard-working, and trustworthy."

Your jaw drops to just above the computer monitor in your cubicle 14 floors below.
"Here are the details," Pendleton continues. "We're offering a 5-year contract starting at $347,000 per year with 15% increases per annum and a $1.4 million signing bonus. Company car, apartment in the city, 151,000 options after 60 days. Substantial bonuses for meeting your MBOs. What do you think?"

Dinner that evening was unremarkable, with the exception of the bomb you were about to drop.

So you drop it.

"No way, Dad." "Um, honey, are you feeling all right?" "Pops, you're effin crazy!" "People like you do not get positions like that!" "You've finally snapped!" "I think you just misunderstood Mr. Pendleton, honey..." And then, almost inaudibly under the din of dispute, Diana, your littlest, says "I believe you, Daddy."

Imagine that something spectacular and exhilarating (but frightening) just happened to you. You want to share this stupendous news, but the fear of others (of losing their power - their differentiation, their superiority) shames you into self-doubt. A small voice keeps you believing, keeps you aware that what happened to you was real, was physical.

What now?

An Awful Waste of Space

I could use this space to talk about the Drake equation (note) and the Fermi paradox (note). I could delve into a physical representation of why ETs must exist, or why they can't. I could do these things, but I not going to. Here I'm going to work through the common sense of sightings and encounters.

More to come.

War and Peace

2004-07-09T01:39:00.000-06:00

Telling information is coming out of the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It seems that a recent study by the organization finds that 28% of American internet users (a sample equating to some 30 million adults) "actively sought...out" graphic war images online. However, 49% of those surveyed objected to having the content posted (note).

Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?

When a man, a real man, has his head sawn off barbarically, there is a look of shock and pain and fear and disbelief that flickers across his face that, even captured on grainy video, is absolutely unmistakable. Most Americans, though, have contact with the feral only vicariously - through Arnold and his cadre of Hollywood killers. However, no matter how good the actors in a movie are, the blood is not real. The pain is not real. The death is not real. They know it and we see it. What we seek, I think, is the thrill of the kill. But not a real kill. We just want the death visual that stimulates the chemical outflow that makes us remember we're still alive.

When it's real, though. Forget it.

Humans, beautiful as we are, feel compassion (well, most of us, anyway). We put ourselves in another's place. We sympathize. We empathize. We knelt on that sweating floor in that dusty back room with the stinking warriors behind us. We felt the steel on our necks. We had our hair pulled back. We died in a grisly and painful way that day.

A few years ago I saw video of a Russian soldier killed by a Chechen as they shared a cigarette. When I saw that, my mind expanded a little bit. I realized that death walked with these people. It wasn't foreign and hushed as it is here in the 'burbs. It screams and splatters! How very different we are. How very fortunate we are to be living in relative peace and comfort.

But are we?

I happen to think that the publishing of ghastly war images on the internet serves two major purposes in converging humanity (especially out here in the 'burbs):

It shows all of us, unmistakably, the personal horrors of war.
It helps to teach us that there is a gap between out thoughts of war, and war itself. War is bloody, selfish, personal, and barbaric. It's not merely a 120-minute accompaniment to polishing off a bag of popcorn.

Some of the people I have talked to about these images say they make them angry. They want revenge. They want to hold the knife next time.

I want to shift the tide next time.

Who Are We -- Really?

2004-07-08T13:17:00.000-06:00

Yeah, we're people. Yeah, we're mothers and fathers and wives and husbands, friends and neighbors. But who are we in a cosmic sense? Maybe a better way to ask essentially the same question would be "Why are we here?" Now, before you groan miserably and roll sideways off your chairs, please bear with me...

Tackling the issue of human purpose has traditionally fallen within the purview of religion. So, in order to address it here, I think we need to talk about religion. I'll need to address religion more in another entry, but this will have to do for now...

Christianity tells us that we are here because (a) it pleased God to create us, and (b) we are to, in turn, please God. Heaven or Hell await you, of course, depending on your life review. Simple.

Islam says that Allah created us for one purpose: to worship and obey Him. Do this, and you get to go to Paradise at the end of this life. Don't and you're one of the unbelievers, the "companions of hellfire, therein they shall remain forever" (link) Yeowch. The literal meaning of Islam is "peace."

Buddhism and Hinduism both profess that we, as humans, are here to relive physical lives (our "school") until such time as we are enlightened. What does that mean? It means "becoming aware of the true nature of the Universe." (link)

Agnostics say that we, as mere humans, can never obtain a level of understanding sufficient enough to discover, definitively, the existence of God. (link)

Judaism has one of the most interesting beliefs regarding our existence. They say that God created us to give us the "ultimate gift:" a relationship with Himself. (link)

These five beliefs cover an estimated 5.41 billion of the 6.07 billion humans associating themselves to a religion, some 89%. (link) So... 89% of humans believe the following, if I may be so bold:

There is a God (even the Agnostics concede this, in their own way)
He, She or It created the Universe and everything in it
He, She, or It is omnipotent and omniscient
We want/need to figure out why number 2 above happened
Religion holds the only understanding of God and therefore adherence to the religion's prescribed tenets is the only way to get the keys to God's kingdom
Their religion is the "One True Religion," and the those not so aligned are missing the boat - and may be jeopardizing their souls for all eternity

Where are the differences? The similarities? Why all the religious tension?

Cogito, Ergo Sum

"I think, therefore I am." These (perhaps most) famous words of René Descartes (1596-1650), French philosopher and mathematician, indicate the beginnings of our civilization's human-as-soul stance thinking is the only irreducible truth. However, Descartes was also the namesake of the Cartesian plane (remember your geometry?), and his philosophy tended towards the mechanical - his overriding goal was to extend mathematical methodology to all endeavors of human knowledge. In my opinion, though, he does make some wonderful points, primary among them the dualistic thought that the physical world is "divorced from the mind, the only connection between the two being by intervention of God." (note) I think this is a point apropos this discussion not for the reason(s) Descartes may have thought, but we'll get to that in a moment.

OK. Let's start at the beginning. What do we have?

There is a God.
God created the Universe and everything in it.

Not much, but everything. And the most important.

Incorporating Descartes' dualistic cogito, ergo sum, I'll forward the following:

God created the Universe and everything in it
If A, then God created humans
If A, then (according to our frame of reference) God is omniscient and omnipotent
Humans think, therefore humans exist (sliding the "I think, therefore I am" to the plural)
If C and D, then God created humans as thinking and questioning (and therefore knew Descartes would come up with the whole cogito thing)
If A, then there is one God and only one God
If A and E and F, then this one God knew we would fragment ourselves into religions supposedly worshipping the One of Him

Let's look at what we have now.

There is a God.
God created the Universe and everything in it
Therefore God is omniscient and omnipotent
There is one God and only one God
God created us as thinking and questioning
God knew we would fragment into religions, each with their unique prophets/Gods

The human action of point 6 above is seemingly in contradiction with point 4. I think there's a straightforward reason for this, though. To get to it, we need to address some of the earthly reasons us thinking and questioning humans had to fragment into religions (and why we don't need to remain there anymore). Let's retrieve Descartes' notion that the physical world is "divorced from the mind, the only connection between the two being by intervention of God." I said earlier that I liked that quote. Well, it's true. But not for the reasons our Frenchman was thinking.

Body, Mind and Spirit

"We're often so blind. Our demand for the credentialed so colors our perception of believability, that we wouldn't recognize God if he appeared within us." - Unknown

I think there wasn't so much a divorce of the mind and the physical world during our civilization as there was an unconsummated wedding between the two. We, even in our "more enlightened" New Age era, continue to use phrases like "Body, Mind, and Spirit" as if those were separate entities entitled to individual billing. I don't think they are. Let's investigate.

When God created us, He created all of our consciousness, our weaknesses and foibles, all of our beauty and savagery - and He knew what He was doing when He did it. And He built in two little traits we like to call ambition and perception, as well.

Ambition is "an eager or strong desire to achieve something, such as fame or power" (note).

Perception is the "recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli" (note). Let's talk about perception first.

Perception is a physical gestalt. It is (and has been) interwoven with our very being. What I mean by this is that we, as humans, perceive that we are locked in a permanent relationship (albeit a symbiotic one) with the physical. We can't breathe without air. We can't walk without the ground. We can't see without light. Because of this, we have become the physical - our bodies. But we also have a physical brain that produces things that transcend the physical. Can we see, hear, touch, feel, or smell thoughts? Well, some claim to. But I maintain that the mind is a powerful output of the brain, a physical organ, and therefore rooted in the physical.

So. We relate best to the physical, but have minds (based in the physical) that allow us to create the a-physical. What of the spirit?

This one, for me, is a bit tougher. I think of the spirit as the nonphysical source of the passions that drive us. Not so much those kind of passions, but passions like playing the piano daily for 20 years in order to become a concert musician. Like fighting for civil rights in the 60s even though the pay was bad and the sense of security worse. Like staying up until my kids are on their third cycle of REM to finish this thought. Passion... Drive...

Ambition?

Rounding the Bend

This is where we turn onto the homestretch, I think.

Ambition has a negative connotation, whereas passion and drive have a somewhat positive connotation. Humans, though (created as we are with all of our weaknesses and foibles, all of our beauty and savagery), tend to create ways to elevate themselves above the rest of the physical. From lords and serfs to offices and cubicles, we have always wanted status. Power. Fame. Differentiation. This ambition, I believe, coupled with a traditional and understandable separation of ourselves from God, has defined us as a species. Until now.

The craftsman cradles his latest work as he carefully sands a rough spot on the outer edge of the spruce f-holes. He gently puffs away fine wood dust and runs his rough finger over the work. He spies other certain small imperfections, but knows these will not diminish the instrument's rich and lasting sound. Nor will they detract from its beauty. "È quasi perfetto," he whispers. "Quasi perfetto." Antonio Stradivari coats the back of a label with a thick paste and holds it in position before affixing it to the inside of the violin. "Antonius Stradiuarius, Cremonenfis Faciebat Anno 1718" reads the label, his maker's mark. It is allowed only on those creations that have absorbed his love and careful crafting. More than 1100 of such instruments were given the maker's mark by Stradivari and his sons by 1737, but less than 700 survive today. Stradivarius violins, violas, cellos, etc. continue to be among the most highly-prized possessions in the world today.

We bear the maker's mark, of sorts, of God. This was not affixed by a thin coating of paste, but was integrated with our body, or mind, and our spirit. The world's major religions agree that we are here to learn how to be closer to God, and we must do this in spite of (and because of) our physical being.

We, however, continue to honor the physical above the spirit. We fight amongst ourselves, drawn up in battle lines according to religious factions that, in essence, agree. We bleed, we die. We hate.

Our historic ambition to be different from, better than, and more of our brother (for we spring from the same craftsman) keeps us on our snail's pace toward the discovery of our civilization - we are God.

Summary, I Think

To wit:

There is a God.
God created the Universe and everything in it
Therefore God is omniscient and omnipotent
There is one God and only one God
God created us as thinking and questioning
God knew we would fragment into religions, each with their unique prophets/Gods
God put us here to learn (see 5) to transcend both the physical and our imperfections to be more like Him.
We bear the maker's mark - we absorbed God when we were made.
Therefore, if 3 is true, then we are God