The Winter of 2012

Synopsis;
A personal view of New Jersey.

I know that New Jersey gets a really bad rap sometimes.

Comedians love beating up NJ.


TV is also no friend of New Jersey

The Sopranos… We are all mobbed up and have a combined IQ of 23.
Boardwalk Empire… The story of the Soprano’s older brothers.
The Jersey Shore…
These numbskulls aren’t even from New Jersey
they’re from Staten Island; my other home
Jerseylicious… Are you kidd’n me or what?
The Real Housewives of New Jersey … Really?!!
These are the “Real” Housewives? Don’t get me started;
this show makes “Mob Wives” look like a group of female
MENSA alumni discussing theoretical physics!

Now don’t get too envious, but my niece actually lives in Hawaii…
Yes the one place on Earth that could be called a true Garden of Eden
(as opposed to the real “Garden State”).
But if you live in that idyllic place,
where the temperature is always perfect,
the views are always spectacular,
the people are always friendly and beautiful,
In this perpetual perfection,
even Hawaiians say you become accustomed to its beauty.
I suppose that’s why people love to visit this paradise so often.
Now don’t get me wrong, give me the opportunity to live in Hawaii…
See how fast I’ll say “Seeyalater,  Jersey…
where’s my plane ticket!”  As I wing it to Newark Airport.

But I am happy to say I like New Jersey… most times

On October 28, 2011 we all experienced that crazy pre-Halloween
blizzard and I was caught in it,
driving from Saddle Brook to my home,
a 45 minute drive which took me 7 hours!!!
It looked like a war zone when I got home.
Power lines and  trees down,
cars mangled from multiple car wrecks...
What a disaster!

I was cursing the snow,
my tires,
the slow drivers in front of me and the maniacs behind me,
the missing plow trucks,
the lack of road salt
but mostly,
I was cursing the fact
that I was so incredibly stupid to venture out on that day at all.

And while cursing New Jersey,
I was wishing that I lived in Hawaii where they have no snow.
I thought that if the winter started in late spring,
we were in for one hell of a winter.

I pictured burning out my snow blower and all my fire wood…
I pictured ice dams on my roof and water leaks in the house…
I pictured driving through canyons of plowed snow in my neighborhood…
I pictured the last pile of snow melting away in late May 2012…

But one of the things I do love about our Garden State
is the change of seasons.
From summer to winter and back again,

I love the change of air temperature,
The heat of a summer day, the sun beating on your skin.
The shiver of the wind as it rips through your down parker
on a day when the wind chill factor reads -15 below.
The first hint of spring when the crocuses break through the soil
and the smell of blossoms fill the air.
The way the state looks, the change of colors…But that winter didn’t materialize and neither did the snow.And now I do have one question…

Where the heck did winter go?
And to be quite honest…
I missed that winter of 2012 that never happened!
 

WORKING WITH SPIRIT - Posting 3 of 3

Synopsis;
This posting would be too long for one posting so it is posted in three parts. In Parts 1 and 2, I relay my experience of being on “the platform” at a “Spiritualist Church Student Service”; what being a “Psychic/Medium” feels like when you are in front of strangers trying to “bring through”  messages from their loved ones who have passed away. In Part 3, I describe observing Janet Nohavec my tutor, pastor and perhaps one of the top ten best Evidential Mediums in the world today. I describe the masterful way she brings evidence and messages to people who have lost their loved ones and the uplifting effect these messages have on those who were there.

…After some other validations and a loving message,

I thanked Pat verbally for accepting my reading

and thanked her mother in my internal voice;

“Thank you Mom, for coming through and connecting with me so well”
I projected to the energy of her mother and I heard
“No… Thank-YOU… And I felt a kiss on my cheek!”

And as I walked back to the oak chair on the platform, I knew why I love doing this work…

Working for Spirit – Posting 3 of 3

Janet thanked me and Lena and stepped to the front of the platform.
I have seen Janet do readings during Sunday services
and years ago had a private reading with her.
She IS an amazing evidential medium.
So I was prepared to see her do a reading.

I expected her to do what she had been teaching her students for the past year.

Connect with a spirit communicator and get their
“Name Rank and Serial Number”.

I assumed she would give 8 – 10 pieces of evidence.

I assumed a few hands to go up in the audience, of those people who could accept all the pieces of evidence that Janet brought to them.

I assumed Janet would narrow the number of people wanting to make that connection down to one.

I assumed she would work with that one person
and give them one message.

I assumed Janet would “Wow” the congregation and me with more exact pieces of evidence. I knew that I would not be hearing
“I have your Daddy here and he says he loves you”.
I knew the evidence that we would be hearing would be impressive.

I assumed we would be hearing an uplifting and inspiring message.

Well as the old saying goes “When you assume…”

“I am aware of a man”… she started “he tells me he liked a ‘stiff shot of liquor’, but he was not an alcoholic”… No one responded.

“I feel this man is with a couple in this area,”
pointing to the large family group.

Still no one acknowledged the spirit connection.

“I am with this couple here”…
pointing to a man and a woman seated next to each other in the center of the group.

Still they shrugged looking at each other, the man looking uncomfortable.

She brought up a poker game.
“He is now showing me a group of men playing poker”.
Two woman in the group looked at each other and then at the couple that Janet was addressing with a puzzled expression on their faces. But not puzzled by Janet’s evidence, puzzled and exasperated by their family members who were not accepting any or all of the information.

This couple was experiencing “Psychic Amnesia”, a condition that happens when you are being given information from a Medium, that because you are so excited to be called upon; and wondering who this person is; and being taken off guard; and a hundred other conflicting emotional reasons, that you completely forget who this person is, even if they were the closest person in the world to you.

At this point I think I would have folded or
at least I would have started to profusely sweat.

Janet didn’t bat an eye. She is so confidant in her connection with the spirit world that she was not going to leave this couple until they said that yes, they could take this man.

But still they shrugged; actually the woman shrugged, her husband looked like he wanted to crawl under his chair. You didn’t need to be a psychic to read this situation. I pictured his wife telling him he “really needed to go tonight; our whole family is going; don’t worry honey, these people aren’t going to call on you…”

Well I think this man got a lot more than he bargained for and as it ended up he got exactly what he needed to get…

I love Janet!
If it were me giving this reading and this couple who I knew the reading was for,
completely rejected my connection,
I would be looking to crawl under my own chair.

But I am a long way from having the confidence that Janet showed that evening.

She folded her arms in front of her and I saw her connecting with her spirit communicator, I saw her nodding as she was processing more evidence.

“He says to mention a ‘Royal High Straight Flush’”…

And that was all it took.

It was as if 12 light bulbs went off over 12 different heads…
The whole family reacted with gasps, hands to the chest or mouth, smiles, awestruck faces…
The couple did not have to say anything the family’s reaction said it all.

Looking at the man again, Janet asked
“Who is Tom?”
The man’s eyes opened as large as saucers
as he pointed at his chest and whispered, “Me”

More gasps from the large family.

“Who’s Ruth?” Janet asked.

The man’s saucer eyes got even bigger

and his wife’s jaw dropped open he pointed at her with his thumb
as she ever so slowly raised her hand.

Her jaw wasn’t the only one that dropped.

Mine dropped with Tom and stayed that way for the rest of the reading.

“Who is Tony”, Janet asked and the stunned couple replied
“Our brother-in-law”.

 “The one who liked to play poker on Thursday nights and got the Royal High Flush?” she asked with a broad smile on her face as the couple smiling and crying nodded as did their whole family.

The whole audience laughed and was clearly amazed by this reading; not only did Janet know the name of her spirit connection;
she got the names of the couple who the reading was for

through Tony who is in spirit!

Now at that point I would have said

“Wow! That was an amazing reading!”

And if Janet had given this couple a message from their brother-in-law,

it would have been perfect, but Janet wasn’t through yet.

I saw her take a breath as if her connector was giving her something more. But she was not smiling as she had before.
Her demeanor became more serious
and I felt that the next piece of evidence was going to be powerful and it was.

She looked at the couple again, they were still smiling and clearly impressed that their Tony came thru to them.

Janet took a deep breath and stated quietly and compassionately,
“You have lost a son; is that right?”

The woman gasped, nodding as she brought a handful of tissues to her face. Her family through their own tears were touching her to give her love and support.

Her husband, obviously holding back his own tears, handed her the box of tissues that was being passed around to their family.

Who is Joseph?” Janet asked quietly.

“Our son” was the whispered response from the woman,
at which point her husband could not control
his hardened façade any longer and with a handful of tissues,
buried his face in his hands and gently wept

as his family placed hands on his back for support.

“He says that he passed quickly and that he felt no pain…
He knows you have struggled with that;
He says he passed before the flames consumed the car…”

The weeping grew stronger and now their whole family was crying

along the rest of the congregation.

“He says he sees his nephew at school and at the play; that it was good to see everyone laughing again”

The crying slowed and was replaced with smiles and awe as Janet brought through more loving and healing validations and messages for Joe’s family.

After the service ended, Janet thanked Lena and I and Barbara the homilist. I felt driven to thank Janet for asking me to read, but what came out of my mouth, surprised me, I didn’t really think about it, the words formed almost by themselves.

“Thank you Janet for asking me to read” I started

“As your student and a Medium, I am comfortable with readings and love watching an accomplished Medium, do their work,

especially the tutors you have teach us from Arthur Findlay College…
But I have to say, watching you this evening…

Well, if we were your art students and you were our art teacher,
showing us the use of color and form; how to use perspective and shading; teaching us how to paint a sunset on canvas using light and darkness…
Sitting on the platform tonight watching this demonstration of Mediumship that you just performed, was like watching Da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa;
all I can say is WOW!”.

I could not have assumed we would be witnessing a reading like the one we saw. The interesting thing was that afterwards, after the evening was done and my jaw was able to close when I spoke with Janet about her reading, she seemed to be surprised by my reaction to her reading. She thanked me but to her it was her norm; her method of Evidential Mediumship. It is what each and every student in her class strives to do.

I watched as Janet did, on the platform what she had been teaching us for a year.
She asked for, received and presented
“Name, Rank and Serial #”.

She brought names, dates, how their loved ones passed,
specific validations that had tears and laughter simultaneously.

The closure, relief and joy that that couple received was priceless
and exactly what they both needed to hear.

And again it was validated for me why I love to do this work so much.

(Last month I went back to the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for a week workshop with James Van Praagh again. The next posting will be about my AMAZING experiences there)

WORKING WITH SPIRIT - Posting 2 of 3

Synopsis;
This posting would be too long for one posting so it is posted in three parts. In Parts 1 and 2, I relay my experience of being on “the platform” at a “Spiritualist Church Student Service”; what being a “Psychic/Medium” feels like when you are in front of strangers trying to “bring through” messages from their loved ones who have passed away. In Part 3, I describe observing Janet Nohavec my tutor, pastor and perhaps one of the top ten best Evidential Mediums in the world today. I describe the masterful way she brings evidence and messages to people who have lost their loved ones and the uplifting effect these messages have on those who were there.

… After Lena’s evidence and message, she thanked the congregation and went back to her seat. Janet walked to the pulpit and said into the microphone, “Garry?” nodding towards me, I stood up and simultaneously said to the spirit of this woman I had felt,
“Ok, mom… we’re up”

Working for Spirit – a 3 Part Posting
Posting 2 of 3

“Ok Garry…” my self-talk began by trying to calm myself down.
“BREATH! Focus…”
“You have done this before and you now truly believe in the process,
so put what you’ve learned from Janet into action”
I began to listen to this new supportive voice and it felt good!
I was not hearing any negativity…
I was confident that the spirit of this woman that I had communicated with,
wanted to connect with her children.
And I certainly wanted to help her; I knew that if her child was sitting in the audience,
she certainly wanted to hear from this woman, her mother.

I was ready.

Gone were the butterflies in my stomach.
Gone was that doubting voice in my head and I was ecstatic that I no longer heard it.
Gone was questioning if I could make a contact with a spirit.
Gone was the fear; of looking foolish; of failure; of public speaking
(that one I had been working on my whole life and now I did not feel it)

In my awareness even the congregation was gone.
All I wanted to feel was the energy of this woman
who I knew was a supportive loving mother;
I felt her and I focused on nothing but the connection
I had with her for only the briefest of seconds.

I have become accustomed to the physiological feeling I get when a spirit is close.
There is a tingling on the back of my neck,
almost like someone blowing on it.

This tingling which then runs up and down my spine,
is my first indication that I am connecting with a spirit.

Then the hair on my arms and if the spirit is strong enough,

the hair on the back of my neck will stand up.
This is when I begin a conversation with the spirit; in my head of course…

“I know you’re a woman” I asked.
I “felt” the affirmative answer more than heard it…

“I feel you were on your 70’s or 80’s when you passed”
Again affirmative response.

My next question was “How did you pass?”

I am clairsentient, I feel what the spirit sends to me and at that split second,
I felt a sharp pain in my chest and my left arm
and I knew she passed of a heart attack or a heart related issue.

She showed me smoking in her youth, but not as an adult.
I then heard “Kearney”…

All this information came to me in a split second and I felt confident
that someone in the audience could connect with this woman.
I felt that after someone said that they could accept this information,
I would be able to get more evidence, prove the connection and then get a message.

So, I began to relay this information to the people in the chapel and at the same time,
I was drawn to a mother and daughter who were part of

the large family group that I saw in the parking lot.

I felt that this woman in spirit was the mother and grandmother to these two women.
I offered what I was receiving to the people in the chapel…

“I have a woman here who passed in her 70’s or 80’s…” I stated.
“She was a mother and grandmother in this life…”
“She says that she smoked in her youth but quit a long time ago…”
“She hasn’t been gone for a long time, perhaps a few years…”
This information was new and came to me as I was giving the information that I had already received.

My awareness was again drawn to the mother and daughter in the family group. With each new validation I offered, they looked at each other smiling as if the connection I had was for them and I felt comfortable and confident that not only did I have a spirit, but I knew who it was for.

I continued, “She passed from either a heart attack or a heart related issue…” The mother and daughter looked questioningly at each other.

“I just heard the word ‘Kearney’, I don’t know if is the town, a name or maybe she is referring to a circus?”

To my surprise, as I gave the information about Kearney, they seemed to disconnect with me, sadly shaking their heads as if to say that, although they wanted to connect, unfortunately, the information was not for them.

Equally unfortunate, for me, was that I went into my head.
This is what happens, to all mediums that are starting to hone their craft.
Once your sitter can’t or won’t to take the information you are offering,
you think the fault lies with you.

You instantly doubt if you even had a connection at all.
Your confidence levels drop like a stone;
you begin to question yourself as to why you are even doing this…

You kick the door wide open to have your “Doubter Part” make it’s grand re entry!
Which was something I was determined not to let happen again.

This situation, like the “from me to me” dilemma, I have posted about http://hyp4lifellc.blogspot.com/2010/07/sometimes-you-win-sometimes-you-lose.html
can ruin a good reading/connection and destroy the fragile sense of confidence
that all beginning mediums struggle with.

I accepted that who I thought the connection was for, was not going to be the case,
I again asked the congregation if anyone could take any of the information and I repeated it once more…

"A 70 year old mother and grandmother, a smoker who quit early, who passed of heart issues, a connection with the word 'Kearney'”.
I looked around the congregation expecting to see a hand rise, but no one raised their hand.

My heart sank again…
No one…
O…M…G…
NO ONE??? I stared to sweat, something Janet taught us not to do…

“Always trust in your connection…” she stresses.
Easier said than done, though…

A bead of “flop” sweat formed at my hairline…
“Never let them see you sweat…”
“You are a professional, always stay in control”

I started to “stroke” my chest, which was something that is neither in my nature to do nor one of my stress management tools.
But doing that caught my attention.

As I stroked my chest, I felt a chain around my neck and a cross…

Almost to myself, but loudly enough for everyone to hear, I asked

“Why am I doing this?”, as I demonstrated stroking my imaginary chain.

“I feel a chain and a cross in my hand…
This woman is telling me that she was buried with her cross…”
The connection was back; In fact, it was never gone,
it was just my confidence that was temporarily gone.

Instantly I was flashed my symbol for “NOT”; a red circle with the diagonal line threw it.
When I am shown this sign it usually means I am either wrong or
I need to be shown something different due to my misinterpritation.

I said to the audience, “No Wait… She wasn’t buried with her cross…
Bare with me for a moment here…” as I tried to understand the conflict
between either being buried with her cross or not.

Symbols are a communication method that spirits use
to quickly relay information to Mediums.
For example, John Edward’s symbol for love is a yellow rose.
My symbol for Roman Catholic is a feeling of rosary beads
over my hands in a prayer position.

So when I received my “Not” symbol
when I said this woman was buried with her cross,
I asked and waited for clarification and I got it.

“No, sorry, she wasn’t buried with the cross. There was discussion about burying her with the cross but it was decided that her granddaughter should have it”

Immediately a hand went up in the back of the church, Carole a long time member of the congregation and an excellent Medium herself said
“Garry, you’re with me! You have my mother!”…

I could have jumped right off the platform,
run to the back of the church and kissed her!
The flop sweat instantly evaporated!
The knot in my stomach untied and I felt the connection again, only stronger.

When she said that I had her mother, I felt a surge of energy…
A chill went up my arms and my spine;
a feeling I have found to be my validation that I truly do have a connection.

After some other validations and a loving message,
I thanked Carole verbally for accepting my reading
and thanked her mother in my internal voice;
“Thank you Mom, for coming through and connecting with me so well”
I projected to the energy of her mother and I heard
“No… Thank-YOU… And I felt a kiss on my cheek!”

And as I walked back to the oak chair on the platform,
I knew why I love doing this work…

In "WORKING WITH SPIRIT -  Posting 3 of 3" (scheduled for posting on 8/19/2011) I describe an amazing reading done by Janet

WORKING WITH SPIRIT – a 3 Part Posting

Synopsis;
This posting would be too long for one posting so it is posted in three parts.
In Parts 1 and 2, I relay my experience of being on “the platform” at a “Spiritualist Church Student Service”; what being a “Psychic/Medium” feels like when you are in front of strangers trying to bring through messages from their loved ones who have passed away.
In Part 3, I describe observing Janet Nohavec my tutor, pastor and perhaps one of the top ten best Evidential Mediums in the world today. I describe the masterful way she brings evidence and messages to people who have lost their loved ones and the uplifting effect these messages have on those who were there.

WORKING WITH SPIRIT Posting 1 of 3;

On Sunday June 5, 2011 at 5:15pm, I was driving on Rt.287 North to the
Journey Within Spiritualist Church in Pompton Lakes where
I would be giving a Mediumship reading.
But this reading was going to be a new experience for me
and I am a big believer in the importance
of new experiences for the growth of your soul.

The Journey Within Church
http://journeywithin.org,
is a Spiritualist Church in Pompton Lakes NJ and is a member of the SNU,
The Spiritualist’s National Union
http://www.snu.org.uk

The Church’s Pastor, Janet Nohavec is a world renowned psychic/medium
and an amazing teacher.
She had invited me and about twenty other Mediums,
to join her school for Evidential Mediumship.
Her goal is to make us the best Psychic Mediums we are capable of being
and that means getting evidence, evidence and more evidence.

Saying
“...I have your father here…
Your father IS in spirit, isn’t he?
Well he is here and he says he is proud of you”...
will just not fly in Janet’s class.
Janet wants “Name, Rank and Serial Number”,
by that she means; she wants specific information from the spirit
that you are feeling, in a specific order
with no fuzzy fluff like...
“Your mommy says she loves you”...
Janet says that is not a “Wow” reading and
there is no evidence from that statement,
that you are actually in communication with a spirit.

A wow reading is one that when it is over, everyone there;
The sitter,
You - the Medium
and The spirits that are there say...
"WOW! that was amazing”

Janet is a tough teacher and I should know, being a teacher.
She also has one of, if not the most important attribute of a great teacher;
an absolute passion for her subject and in this case,
the subject is Evidential Mediumship.

I received a call from Janet about a week or two before,
asking me if I would be able to read at the Student’s service on Sunday evening.

I was so honored by her asking me
that I answered immediately with a resounding
“SURE! And Thank-you for asking”.

Which was just before the annoying voice of my doubter part said
“What are you crazy, what if you screw it up?”
I have learned to acknowledge that part of me
that is always causing self-doubt and
then try to ignore it;
perhaps it’ll stop one of these days.

In any event, If Janet had the faith in me, as a student, to “read” during the service, who am I to doubt her or say “no”.

So there I was driving on 287.

Having given myself extra time, I was cruising along at a slow 60 mph…
Just me and my increasingly annoying voice in my head.
Those of you, who know me, know that in my hypnotherapy practice,
I use Parts Therapy for many issues that trouble my clients.
Then, why, you may ask don’t I use it to treat this part of me that is so full of doubt.

Well the answer to that one would be a 10 part posting!
(Maybe at a future date)

As I entered the church’s parking lot with lots of time to spare,
I noticed that 4 cars had just pulled in and parked ahead of me.
There were about a dozen or so people huddled in a big group
animatedly talking with each other
and you didn’t need to be a psychic to know
they were all related and anxious about the experience they were about to have.

Once in the church’s beautiful chapel,
I met with two other students of Janet’s Medium school.
You could tell quite easily that we were all quite anxious and nervous.

Janet called us over to explain how the student service was going to work.

“First, Barbara, you’ll be the homilist and will speak to the congregation then you both” pointing to Lena and me, “will connect with a spirit and give evidence and a message to someone in the congregation and then I will give a message”

Before we walked onto the platform, I sat in the fourth row and closed my eyes.
Not only to center myself and get into the Medium mindset,
but to stop the old annoying frightened voice in my head
filling me with self doubts.
It seems to show up in my mind
as soon as I am about to read someone and always,
its timing is perfect to get me off my game.

“What if you don’t get a spirit? I felt/heard it say…
“You’ll look like a jerk, up there” it seemed to know exactly what I didn’t want to hear.
“…Mr. Wannabe Medium…” it said, spewing it’s venom and sarcasm.
“Why do you do this to yourself?...” the voice was relentless…

Finally another voice in my head chimed in…
“Shut-UP!” it said
“He wants to do this so stop hindering him!”
This conflict has been going on for years, if not decades.
But now I began to pay attention to this new supportive voice.
I liked his supportive energy.
It knew what I wanted to do and now I decided to only listen to him…
My supportive part…
And it felt good…
It felt right!

It wasn’t so much listening to this new part/voice in my head as much as it was deciding to do what Janet has been teaching us…

“Have faith in those spirits and they will never let you down.
Oh, and just say ‘screw it’ and have fun!”

Janet stood up and motioned to us to take our seats on the platform
and I began to put my supportive self to the test.
I also felt him sitting on top of my annoying doubter self.

So, the three of us,
Barbara, Lena and I stood and walked onto the platform with Janet,
sat down in the tall oak chairs on the platform
that were vibrating with the energy of the hundreds of Mediums
who had sat there over the years.

The service began with an address to the congregation by Janet,
who thanked all the people for being there
and explained what this special “Student Service” was;
that it was an abridged Spiritualist service
to provide experience to her students.
She went on to say that we would have a student homilist speak,
two students will give a reading each and
then she (Janet) would give a reading.

Janet had the music system cued up to “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles
and we all sang along with John, Paul, George and Ringo.
Honestly, it felt a little awkward singing on stage
with the feeling that all eyes were on you.
But by the second chorus of “All you need is love…”
my energy was definitely picking up as I harmonized with John.

Janet introduced the homilist, who began giving her homily and I hate to admit it but I was distracted.

The same ego driven concern popped into my head once again
but this time I had anticipated it and was able to ignore it.
Janet consistently told us that when the butterflies are fluttering
in the pit of your stomach, just say
“Screw it and enjoy yourself”
and that was my intention.

Since my introduction to Metaphysics ten years ago
at a week long Past Life Regression Workshop with Dr. Brian Weiss
which peaked my interest in psychic phenomenon,
I have had an ongoing internal conflict between my ego and faith/trust.
After these ten years…
finally, my trust and faith have won the battle and now,
to my surprise, I am comfortable on the platform.

As I sat on the platform, knowing I was going to be asked soon to make a connection, I asked my Spirit Guides to give me a hand.

“OK guys… Time to put up or shut up…”

I began getting that familiar tingle up my spine, the hair on the back of my neck started to stand up and I thought…

“Great! I have a link… thank-you God!”

I felt a woman, who had passed in her older 70’s or 80’s,
and was a mother and a Grandmother.

I thanked her for connecting with me and I asked her, if she could,
hold off until later when I am on the platform.

I began my self talk;
the set up I do prior to doing a reading.
Eyes closed now...
Slowing down my breath…
Expanding my energy out in front of and behind me…

Now I set my intention;

“I want to make a connection with a person in spirit
who wants to communicate with their loved one
who is sitting in this place of love and light”…

“I surround myself with the white light of truth…” I said my white light prayer.

“Our father who art in heaven…” I said the Lord’s Prayer.

Lena wanted to go first. Even though she was clearly very nervous, she did fine.

“Hi I’m Lena…” She said to the congregation...

“Hi Lena” the congregation responded.
I smiled as I pictured an AA meeting.

I thought that when it was my turn, I’d mess up and say,
“Hi I’m Garry and I’m an Alcoholi… I mean a Medium…”.
Then said to myself that there is a time and place for everything
and this was certainly not the time to be joking around
and this is not the place for comedy.

Lena made a connection with a woman in spirit who was “taken” by Jake, one of our fellow students in Janet’s class who came to the service to support us, his classmates.

After Lena’s evidence and message, she thanked the congregation and went back to her seat.

Janet walked to the pulpit and said into the microphone,
“Garry?” nodding towards me,
I stood up and simultaneously said to the spirit of this woman I had felt,

“Ok, mom… we’re up”

In WORKING WITH SPIRIT Part 2 of 3, I describe my experience of connecting with the spirit of a woman whose daughter was sitting in the congregation.

I'm BAAAACK!

Synopsis;
In this brief posting, I apologize for being away for so long and update you on what has been happening during this past year

“Forgive me father, for I have sinned...
it’s been a year since my last Blog entry…”
and I have no one to blame except me and my laziness…
shame on me.

Although I could blame my laziness on my very busy schedule,
I really need to get back into the habit and discipline of writing every day.

Since I last did an entry, when I was planning on finishing my book and
although I did work on it over the summer,
I am still only 75% done and again,
I plan on finishing it soon or at least before I retire from teaching in 4 years..

Between teaching, hypnotizing, being a Psychic/ Medium and
the responsibilities that come with being a husband, father and grandfather,
the last thing on my prioritized “to do list” is the gym and writing…
OK who am I fooling,
the last thing IS writing.

Whether in my blog or my book, once I am done with all the “Have to do’s”, the “wanna do’s” like writing just don’t seem to get done.
But that will change;
that must change.

So that’s why this entry is titled “ I baaaack”.
Maybe by saying it I will be back…
writing again.

It is a great release.
Sooo…
This past year has been very busy and
quite interesting metaphysically speaking…

- Last summer I spent a weekend at The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies,
working with James Van Praagh.
That was my next to last blog entry.
This summer I will be back at Omega and work with James again for a week!
I am most definitely looking forward to it.

- I have taken classes with 4 different teachers of Metaphysics from
Arthur Findlay College in England.
Bet you never knew that there is an actual college in England
for Psychic/ Mediumship along with many other Metaphysical areas of study.
Actually the college is what the school in the Harry Potter series was based on! If you are interested, check their website at http://www.arthurfindlaycollege.org/
- I was asked along with about 20 other Psychic Mediums
to join a class taught by Janet Nohavec,
at her church to improve and hone our P/M abilities.
Janet is not only a world renowned Psychic Medium,
she is a true teacher in every sense of the word.
By that I mean, she is surely NOT doing it for the money
(all “true” teachers will attest to that, money is not the motivating factor in teaching, the motivating factor is the advancement and growth of your students.)
Janet teaches her students because she is driven to produce better evidential mediums; people who can prove to the public that we never truly die.
To prove to a cynical public that our consciousness is eternal
and after our bodies die, our consciousness is still “alive”
and aware of our loved ones who are still here.
An evidential Medium’s purpose is to assist the spirit in communicating with their loved ones on Earth and to prove to those loved ones that those who have passed away are truly still here.
Services at the Journey Within Church start at 10am.
Check out the services page on Janet’s website http://www.journeywithin.org/services.htm
I am proud and honored to be invited by Janet to “read” at the
“Sunday Night Student Church Service” this Sunday evening June 5th at 6:00pm.
I will let you know what it was like.

- I am doing many more “readings”. With each reading I learn more of how our loved ones in spirit communicate.
- I started a psychic circle that is still going strong

As the title “Spiritual Evolution - A Journey from Atheism to Spirituality” of my book implies, we are all on a journey and I will keep you informed of what I am learning along mine.
Until the next time…
This Journey continues.

Time to Buckle Down

You know when you feel
like you have twenty irons in your fire
and you only have 2 or 3 charcoal briquettes left.

That’s the way I’m beginning to feel.

I’m not complaining, mind you,
I’m simply observing.

Actually, things are really going well.

My business HYP4LIFE is thriving.
I have lots of hypnosis and mediumship clients.
My Psychic Development Class seems to be a big hit
and I am setting up another Monday
so I’ll be presenting it bi-monthly now.

Thank God I still have my teaching position in September.
Considering the recent layoffs in New Jersey,
I should be and am really thankful.

My wife, kids, grandchildren and I are all healthy and happy…

So I am by no means complaining; I am thankful…
But.

I have been writing a lot in my blog
and although in the beginning of the summer;
June 23, 2010 to be exact;
at 10:43 am, I posted
“My Book”;
saying how I was going to finally finish it after 5 years…

Well, I have been blogging a lot more than writing in my book…

Oh who am I kidding?

I haven’t been writing in my book…
at all and I am pissed and frustrated with myself.

So I am taking out one iron from my slowly cooling fire
and I won’t be posting on my blog
until September or October

and I am going to attempt to finish my book…
finally!

I will keep you informed.

Sometimes You Win Sometimes You Lose - Part 2

Synopsis;
this is the second of a 2 part article (please excuse the length) about how you can learn from losing, often learning more than from winning.
I describe my experiences at my weekend workshop with James Van Praagh http://www.vanpraagh.com/ and the lessons I learned.

So, after that reading (from Part 1),
I was wondering why I do Psychic/ Mediumship (P/M) readings at all;
I was that upset.
I considered taking down all my blog postings on P/M,
taking all references to P/M from my website and just give up.
I went home that night ready to cancel my weekend at Omega
and take down my P/M shingle for good.


I was that miserable.

Fortunately, I spoke with my friend Sylvia (an excellent Psychic/Medium),
who helped me tremendously.
he said, “Garry, picture a balance scale,
measuring all the readings you have ever done …
on one side sits all the good ones and the other all the bad ones.
What would this balance scale look like?”

As that image formed in my mind,
I saw the scale overwhelmingly heavy with good readings
and only a handful of bad ones.
I not only saw the good readings,
but the faces of the sitters who were so happy with their readings;
how their energy changed after their reading;
how light and good I felt after giving them messages
from their loved ones in spirit
and how I was aware of a feeling of appreciation and gratitude
from spirit, after a good reading
(I plan on expanding on this feeling of gratitude
from spirit in a future posting, suffice to say, we [P/M’s] work
for those in spirit more than for the sitters who pay us).


That conversation was just what I needed
to get me off the floor and back in the game.
Sometimes it seems to be necessary to get shot down occasionally
so that you know how to get up, brush yourself off and keep on keep’n on!
I thanked her for showing me this simple metaphor
and I realized that I had allowed these two sitters
to so negativity influence me that
I wanted to quit this work that I love to do.
I also realized that my ego was hurt and that was why I felt like quitting…
It hurts when your self-image is attacked.

After a good night’s sleep, I woke up and in the shower,
I washed off the negative energy that I absorbed the night before
and looked forward to the coming weekend
at Omega in Rhinebeck NY,
where I would learn from James Van Praagh himself.

I also planned to relay this experience
(of a reading where the sitter would not take anything I offered)
to him for advice;
I was not disappointed.

On Friday July 16, 2010,
I arrived at Omega at 6:30pm after a drive from hell,
287 North was closed for emergency repair;
one lane open and a 3 hour ride took 6 hours,
but the frustration vanished
with the smiles of the young people working at Omega.


If you get a chance to take a workshop there, you really should,
it will be worth your time.

After settling into my room,
I walked into James’ Friday night introductions.
We had about 125 people there
and we were all anticipating a great weekend.
James began by answering the questions of the participants
and I was able to ask him the question
that was praying on my mind from that Monday’s reading.

He had two helpers
running back and forth handing microphones to the questioners.
“James, I had a reading this past Monday”,
I said as the microphone was handed to me.
With a big broad smile, he said to wait for the microphone
so everyone can hear, as I continued…

“I was giving a reading to a woman and her 30ish year old son…”
I relayed how no matter what I said; no matter how strongly
I knew I had a good link with the spirit of their husband/father
they refused to accept anything.


His answer to me was understandable and simple,
but his follow up about the ego was profound and worth relaying.
He said that all you can do as a Medium
is to give the information that you are receiving
from a spirit to the sitter the best you can
and if your intention is coming from a place of love;
you are doing this work for all the right reasons;
your heart is in the right place
but your sitter is too closed off to accept it
or if they come to the reading with preconceived ideas
or if they want to hear from only a specific spirit
and not the one that is there,
there is nothing anyone can do.

I understood and accepted his rather basic response, but he continued…
“Sometimes”, he said,
“your ego gets in the way and you get upset because
the person you are working with doesn’t understand
that you are a wonderful P/M;
you are a loving individual
who is doing this work for all the right reasons;
they don’t see the work you are putting in
or the energy it takes to do this work…
They don’t know that you were a boy scout
and that you love puppy dogs
and you go to church every Sunday…

They misjudge you…

He then said something worth repeating…
often…

“What people think about you…” he said
“Is none of YOUR business!”

Now re-read that statement,
because it is simple, true
and is something a lot of us would disagree with.

It’s none of your business what people think of you!
Wow another Life’s Lesson!

Saturday at James’ workshop
was a great learning experience
and I met some great people and new friends.


I met Jali on Saturday morning and
we hit it off as if we knew each other for years (lifetimes?).

She is an amazing psychic medium from Maryland
her website is
http://www.psychicphotoreading.com/
we did a few psychic exercises together
and I was impressed with her dead – on (no pun intended) readings.


She was kind enough to send me a bunch of photos
and I will attempt to paste them onto this posting
(using my extremely limited computer expertise).

The photo below was by far the most interesting.
James did only one reading the entire weekend,
letting the participants gain a lot of
practical experience as opposed to
watching a pro (James) in action (doing a bunch of readings).


Jali emailed a photo of that reading,
when James was reading the energy of a spirit
for a young woman in the audience.
I’ll attach it below but the amazing thing was
that out of all the photos,
only this one when James was reading had some interesting…
well…
observers for lack of a better description.

No other photos I saw from that weekend had orbs like these in them…
I count 8!

On Sunday before we finished at 12 noon,
James said that he would be bringing up some of us
to “read” for the audience.
Talk about pressure!
Reading a group of Mediums
with James Van Praagh sitting behind you
and he is NOT an easy teacher.

He said from the start that he was going to push us
right out of our comfort zones,
and he did just that!

At first only one person raised their hand.
James said “Good!”,
that he had seen her work and that he would help her.

She came up and did he ever push her!
He was helping her refine
the information she was getting,
but by the time the reading was through,
she was exhausted
and I saw a lot of hands
that had been waving to get a chance to read,
quickly go down and some hands were being sat on!

I was torn between wanting to challenge myself
and embarrassing myself.
I knew that the challenge to do the work
was coming from my “higher self”; my sub-conscious P/M self
and the part of me that was afraid
that I would embarrass myself
was most definitely coming from my ego.

One of the important lessons James taught us
that weekend was the detrimental effect
of listening to your ego
over your intuitive (psychic) self.

I wanted to challenge myself
and decided to ignore my ego
although with that decision,
my ego got louder…
until…
I “felt” the presence of an older man in spirit
touch my arm.

As James was choosing who would be next to read,
my hand had a mind of its own!
It shot straight up
waving like one of my students
in High School
who had to really,
really go to the bathroom.

I felt as if the spirit of this older man
was standing behind controlling my hand!
But I truly wanted to challenge myself for a number of reasons.

First, I felt very comfortable
that I had a strong connection
with this man and after all is said and done,
we Mediums work for them.
If he needed this message to get to someone in the audience,
I felt it would be my honor, duty and pleasure to bring his message through.

Secondly, this was a place
and time where we were all supporting each other
and there were a lot of egos outside,
banging on the windows and doors,
mine included and
I made sure I had left my ego outside
with my flip-flops.

I was ready to do this.

Now, James had called up three other people
and my hand was shooting up
when each one finished
and I honestly felt that I was not going to be picked
and then the strangest thing happened…

I “threw it up to the Universe”
I said in my head to whoever was listening,
my spirit guides;
my higher self;
the spirit of the old man;
God…
“If I am going to do this work
and the time is right, it will work out.”
I felt a sense of calmness wash over me and I heard…
“You’ll be the last one up!”
I don’t know who it was,
but I heard it as clear as day…

“Calm yourself…”

“Prepare yourself…”

“You Will be the last one up…”

The calmness I felt continued…
James announced that he had a plane to catch
and that he had to leave at 12 sharp,
so he could only do a total of five readings
and picked the 4th reader…

I felt I would be next;
no fear;
no apprehension;
no doubt!

When the 4th reader stepped off the stage,
handing James the microphone,
James had his back to me,
looking at a sea of hands all wanting to be the last to read.

This memory will always stay with me.
He turned around, microphone in hand,
pointed it at me and asked if I wanted to read!

I can’t describe what went through my mind in one millisecond!

Yes!...
Hell Yeah! I want to read!
OMG! It really worked,
I asked spirit to help and they did exactly what I asked for!

They said I would be last and I am the last reader!

OK mister, ghost guy…I am all ears, talk to me.
Who do you want to connect with?
What relationship did you have with the person in the audience?
How did you die?
Give me more information…

Then another voice said…
“Holy crap you better do this right
this is THE James Van Praagh!
You better not screw this up,
like you did Monday!”

and I knew Mr. Ego was back in the house!

In my mind I pictured standing up facing my arch nemesis,
grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and his belt,
kicking the door open,
throwing him out the doorway
like John Wayne in every western he ever made…
and then hearing from the PA system…
in the voice of James Van Praagh himself…
“Garry’s Mr. Ego has just left the building!”
…and good riddance.

The reading went great!
I went up on stage
and sat in a chair
with James sitting behind me to my left.
He prompted me to calm myself…
to breathe deeply…
to allow an image to form…

“I have an older man here”, I started…
“Good”, said James, “describe him!”

“He is telling me that he drank and
that is what contributed to his death;
he is a father to a man who is not here,
but his wife is…
This is a woman’s father in law…
He was an educated man,
a professional, doctor, or lawyer...
A tough demanding father…
showed no love to his son.. your husband.. ”

I continued with some more evidence
with James giving me hints as what to ask him,
how to phrase my questions.

I felt that James knew exactly who it was I was connected to.

Finally two women raised their hands claiming this man may be for them,
one in the front of the group
and one in the back.

With some more evidence,
we were able to narrow it down
to the woman in the back of the room,
who was able to accept everything that was coming though.

Then it was time for the all important message,
which was short and powerful.
He wanted me to relate
that he was so very proud of his son,
that he was never able to show his pride
for his son while he was alive.

He was incapable of showing love
and alcohol only made his aloofness
all the more hardened and at times violent.

He said that he was asking for forgiveness from the whole family;
that this was the first time he was able to get through to anyone;
that he had been so difficult to live with that in spirit,
his whole family refused to hear him
as he tried from spirit
to communicate and to apologize to them.

But they heard now!
Through the openness of his daughter-in-law,
the message would finally be delivered to his son,
with the additional sweetness
of saying that his son
is a better person, man and father
than he had ever been
and he can finally relay to his son
through his son’s wife
that he is proud of the man he had become
and that he truly does love him.

There were few dry eyes,
including mine when this man had finished allowing me to help him get his message out.

I will always remember that weekend at Omega and the many life lessons I learned there.