Here's An Idea!

Last Thursday night I conducted a Message Circle at a local healing arts center. There were 10 women in attendance, none of whom were related to each other. When family members attend together, even just two, they can pull in a lot more spirit communication than people who come with a friend or who come alone. But we had no related people in this Circle so I expected a pretty even distribution of spirit activity.

There are other patterns I've noticed in Circles, besides what happens when family members attend. Sometimes one person can be what I call the "chimney," or can sit in what I call the "chimney." In my home, the "chimney" is one particular seat on the couch. Whoever sits there gets many spirit people coming through, not only for themselves, but many spirits who come in for other people show up in that spot. For instance, on this particular couch cushion a sitter in my Circle will generally get many more details from their spirit people, or the spirit person will hang around a long time making jokes, or will keep coming back for more attention even after they've been acknowledged. The person sitting there may also get more variety of spirit people than the others in attendance. Because everyone pays the same price, I endeavor to give everyone equal time, but whoever is in the chimney gets the richest detail and most visits.

I never tell people about this spot at the beginning of the Circle, because I believe people sit where they choose for a reason, and who am I to redirect them or influence their experience?

I've noticed that the chimney spot may also be the place where everyone's spirit people come through. I usually "give" a spirit to a person because I'm pulled in a certain direction when I become aware of a specific spirit. I may be talking to one person on one side of the Circle when I'm interrupted and feel like I need to talk to someone on the other side. So the spirit people generally "stand" in front of who they are here for. But when the chimney is particular strong, many of the spirit people will appear in front of the chimney seat or chimney person, and then I have to find who they really belong to. It's important to remember if you're attending a Circle to listen carefully, even if the medium doesn't seem to be directing a spirit to you. There may be a chimney in the room. Or YOU may be the chimney, so while you may know who the medium is describing, don't be too quick with the "No" response and let it develop perhaps for another person.

So last Thursday night during my Circle at Opal Moon (www.opalmoon.net, by the way), I felt a chimney forming opposite me in the Circle, and the chimney was connected with the person, not the seat. It seemed like everyone I was describing, even while I was directing my comments to other people, actually belonged to one woman named MaryJean. It was getting impossible to read someone else!

Finally, and at times it felt like slogging through molasses, I finished reading everyone. It took 2 hours to give a spirit message to everyone in the Circle, which is just way too long. And I don't think the last person I read was at all satisfied. But that's a topic for another blog.

Here is the fascinating thing I learned at last Thursday's Circle. While we were closing, and I was "consoling" the last person I read who was feeling a little gipped I think, because she didn't get as many real "A Ha!" details as everyone else did, Mary Jean the Chimney said... "I almost didn't come tonight."

I had a brief moment of thinking, "And if you hadn't, this lady here would be a lot happier!" But Mary Jean continued on. She said she had been meditating every day, wanting to hear from 4 or 5 people in a Circle. She hadn't committed to coming to our Circle till the last minute. Indeed, I'd been told to expect 9 sitters, and there were 10 when I arrived.

Mary Jean said, "I had been asking and asking for my people to come through to me, somehow. Every day in meditation I'd been reaching out to them and asking for them to make themselves known to me. This morning I heard about this Message Circle, I signed up, and I said Grandma (and others), I'm going to this seance tonight, and if it's REALLY YOU, please show me."

Every single one of her people came through, with details that convinced Mary Jean her spirit people heard and answered her. She convinced me too.

Now, do I tell people to meditate and ask for an "appearance" by their spirit people? And what if the spirit people are busy and don't show? I try to manage peoples' expectations regarding Message Circles so that they keep an open mind. In fact, one young woman at Thursday's Circle heard from no one she expected to, though there was a young 15-year-old girl who kept coming through for her. Fortunately she was open to hearing from anyone, and by the end of the Circle she could identify this girl, though she'd died probably 20 years ago and was only a schoolmate. She sent me an email the next day really confirming the appearance of this spirit girl. If you come to a Circle wanting only to hear from Dad, and Dad and I don't connect, the disappointment can disrupt acknowledgement of a great uncle, childhood friend, or co-worker who maybe was "less important."

For now, I'll recommend this: if you know you want to hear from someone -- ASK them! Seems like if you ask, they are more likely to appear. I know that if you come prepared to "test" the medium (as one in my Circle did last Thursday night, right down to the crossed arms and legs and body position turned away from the Circle), you're not going to enjoy yourself as much, and the medium is going to have a hard time reading for you. Ask, whether you're going to a Circle or not. And when they show up, be confident that it isn't coincidence -- you're being answered.

The spirit people keep teaching me, and I feel like I'm in school for the long haul. Fortunately for me, I love being a student!