Inquiring Minds ...

On Thursday, April 16, 2015, I was invited by Dr. Gary E. Schwartz to share the story I wrote about in my book, Wolf’s Message, with his Psychology of Religion and Spirituality class at the University of Arizona.  I thank Dr. Schwartz for this opportunity and for sending me a copy of the comments each of the students wrote after the presentation.  These comments were submitted to me completely anonymously.  Some of the observations merited feedback, which I included with my answers to those who asked questions.  I feel the information may be useful to readers of this blog and I share them with you here.    

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My only question is, if you receive messages from the other side, has your husband experienced this?

He has not.

I am still quite skeptical about the story about the book that moved …

I want to be clear that I am well aware that my experience of seeing and hearing the book move (as detailed in "Wolf's Message")was an illusion/hallucination.  Had anyone been standing beside me, they would not have seen or heard the book move as I did.  Nevertheless, the experience was very real to me—as real as everything else happening around me at the time. 

We look at the “reality” that most people experience as “this physical/human world” and call that “reality”, because it is the most common experience to all humans, but reality is relative.  Because each individual’s perception creates their reality, no one can rightfully dictate to another person what is real. 

One of the critical learning points from my presentation is that the reality we perceive with our physical senses is not the only reality.  We can all agree that the laws of our physical universe are suspended when we are in the dream state.  While dreaming we can defy gravity and fly.  We can play with time, and so forth.  Does this make our dreams any less “real” while dreaming them?  Reality is what we are experiencing with our consciousness at any given moment. 

I believe that my perception of the book moving was caused by a manipulation of the auditory and visual signals sent to my conscious mind by higher consciousness to make a point:  “Pay attention to this book.  There is an important message in this book.”  And indeed there was.  Had the book not appeared to move through my very real experience of this hallucination, I would never have chosen to read that particular book.  This intervention from higher consciousness served an important purpose.

Do you ever get messages from a higher power, or as I call him, God?

Before answering this question, I need to share my concept of God.  I do not believe that God is one single being who can communicate directly, but is instead the All That Is … formless and formed, transcendent and immanent, eternal and temporal, absolute and relative, impersonal and personal.  I call this force, this energy, this ground of all being beyond which there is nothing more and which has no opposite “Ultimacy” – a term coined by my friend, retired professor James E. Royster. 

Ultimacy expresses itself in limitless ways, including as you and me.  Ultimacy expresses itself also as what to us are formless aspects of consciousness which we might refer to as spirit-beings and angels.  The more loving the being, the more refined the consciousness, making these more refined, formless aspects of consciousness what we would call “higher beings.” 

With that understanding, yes, I most definitely get messages from a higher power.  You may read over a thousand of these messages at www.SanayaSays.com and read full transcripts of more lengthy messages at http://www.suzannegiesemann.com/sanayasessions/ 

Was it difficult to accept that you were getting all these signs about spirits because of your background?

Yes, but only when I first became aware of the connection with higher consciousness beyond those whom I could identify as deceased family members and friends (in other words, angels).  I was resistant to change my belief system.  Once I realized that the signs were accompanied by verifiable evidence or “No Other Explanation” synchronicities, I became an open-minded skeptic rather than a close-minded skeptic.  Now I am open to almost any experience at first.  I play with new concepts and ideas, test them as to how they intuitively feel to me, and then decide whether to make them part of my belief system or not.  The decision is based upon whether it will help or hinder my soul’s growth and whether or not it will serve the greater good.

If we do not stretch and grow, we stagnate.  We are here for the experiences that lead to our soul’s growth.  This requires being open-minded and willing to change. 

Today showed me that mediums can be everyday people. I've often looked upon them as nut jobs, but today showed me that what they do doesn't always have to be driven by some personal goal.

Thank you for this vote of confidence! 

This presentation made things more confusing for me to be honest. It is so outrageous and yet it makes sense. I think I need to experience it in order to believe it wholeheartedly. And where does God fit into her readings or beliefs?

You are correct:  the best way to learn is through personal experience.  The best way to have personal experiences of the Greater Reality is through the regular practice of meditation with the clear intention of getting to know the world beyond the physical senses. 

As to where God fits into my beliefs, see the previous discussion about God/Ultimacy.  I believe that Ultimacy has love as its essence.  As my guides, Sanaya, shared with me in meditation after I asked how a force that some refer to as “Infinite Intelligence” can be personal:

That particle of Infinite Intelligence that became you at conception was God expressing Itself as you.  The fact that it wanted to express itself as you at all came from pure love.  Everything that lives was born of that spark of love.  Think of the beauty of a flower, of the stars, the mountains … how could they have anything but Love as their source?  You began as an impulse of Love.  It is Love that sustains you.  Love is the most important force there is.  You exist to grow in the realization of Love and in your expression of Love, because you ARE Love.  When expressed, when felt, there is nothing higher, nothing more divine, nothing more sacred, nothing more healing, nothing more binding, nothing more noble … nothing more Godlike. 

As to where God fits into my readings, I do this work in Service to the All, God, Ultimacy.  I do it for and from Love.

I am surprised that Wolf had a specific message that wasn't for his parents but for everyone who will listen to it.

I am not surprised that he did.  The energy I felt from Wolf’s soul was one of a much higher being than most who have recently passed from their experience in human form.  He is what we would call “an old soul.”  Those with a more refined consciousness have more of a focus on the greater good/service to all. 

Do you ever receive the energies from someone on the other side that is pushing forward wanting to communicate when you are not prepared or accepting it at this time?

Yes, this happens occasionally, and I welcome the experience each time.  I consider it an honor to be the conduit for information that is important enough for those on the other side to use me in this way.   

I wonder what her ideas on religion are?

I believe that religions serve a purpose in providing a sense of community and a way of celebrating our existence with others.  However, I do not believe that any one religion can and has captured absolute Truth.  I believe it is beneficial for each person to think for him or herself instead of being told what to believe by any one person or group.  Our beliefs change as we grow spiritually, and it behooves us to not box ourselves in by one set of beliefs. 

You said one highly specific comment that really touched me. You said, "You are more than human". Recently, I was struggling with some feelings of resentment that made me feel human. I have been fighting to be more than that. I mentioned these struggles to a friend right before this presentation who said, "It is alright to feel these things, you are only human". I felt that the message was wrong and hearing you comment on this was amazing. So, thank you.

You’re welcome!  I would caution you, however, against labeling your friend’s comment as “wrong.”  “Right and wrong” are judgments based on each person’s perspective.  Your friend may believe YOU are wrong.  “Either/or” thinking is part of your human side. 

Knowing that you are indeed “more than human,” at any time you can shift your focus to “soul vision,” which perceives not as “either/or” but as “both/and.”  Labeling things as right or wrong only leads to frustration and other lower vibratory feelings.  How about simply seeing your thoughts and your friend’s thoughts as perceptions from different perspectives and say:  “Isn’t that interesting!”  This “soul perspective” is far more peaceful.   

What made Wolf different from other spirits you have communicated with?  Have you ever had amazing synchronicities with other spirits you've communicated with?   

Wolf’s energy was very high relative to most souls who have recently been in physical form.  His energy left me stuttering and shaking throughout the reading.  The clarity of the connection was excellent.  The unusual nature of the details about his life that he was able to get through made his reading stand out.        

I have had a few interesting synchronicities with other spirits, but none that compared with Wolf’s.

I'm being trained to detect mental illnesses as a psychologist. Are we always wrong when we say someone is mentally ill? Or are they just another Wolf trying to teach us?

I can’t answer this, as I am not trained in the mental health field.  I do believe that Wolf’s explanation for not being able to shut off his awareness of the non-physical world (“It was very busy in here,” he said, pointing at his head) is worth keeping in mind for mental health professionals.

What is normal?  Is “normal” simply what serves as the baseline for human behavior?  If someone perceives things outside of those norms, is that then a mental illness?  Am I mentally ill because I communicate with aspects of higher consciousness that most humans cannot perceive?  If this causes a problem for me in functioning and in dealing with others, then that might be considered a mental “illness.”  If it leads to bringing more love and peace to others, what do we call it then?

How can I hone in on these skills to connect with the spirit world?

Meditate, meditate, meditate.  Be the presence of Love in all that you do, thereby raising your consciousness/your personal frequency so as to be closer in frequency with those beings at a more refined level of vibration.  Set the intention of being able to attune to higher levels of consciousness and having experiences beyond normal human/waking awareness.  That’s the start.  The rest would fill volumes. 

This is truly amazing. My head hurts thinking about this.

Welcome to my world.  My advice:  Don’t think so much and feel your way into a new way of believing through your heart … the seat of the soul. 

I was born in a very religious family, and I was taught that things beyond this world aren't possible, but after taking this class and watching her presentation it is becoming harder for me to believe that.

We don’t have to believe things just because we were taught them by others.  Seek the personal experience of Truth.  If that is not possible, test all theories with your heart and gut, not just with your head. 

I honestly cannot believe this level of intense communication. I still think that there should be a way to prove this by scientific observation, as in a legitimate view of how this happens where you can actually physically see it.

I would not have believed it either a few years ago, but the personal experience and the quantity of detailed, verifiable evidence received in an expanded state of consciousness has moved me from faith to knowing.  I do not try to convince anyone of anything.  I allow the evidence to speak for itself, as it did during the reading I gave for one of your classmates prior to the lecture.  I believe the words he used were that he was “blown away” … strong words for a university professor.  I did not do that.  The evidence did. 

Now ask yourself why you cannot believe.  Why the resistance?  Belief is a choice.  You can choose to stubbornly disbelieve, or you can choose to be open-minded until you have the personal experience, either as a medium or as a sitter, or through some other spiritually transformative experience.  When the time is right on your spiritual journey, you will have an experience that will be just right for you.

As to the second part of your comment regarding physically seeing proof, we are not dealing with the physical world.  The non-physical world operates under a different rule-set than ours.  By insisting that things operate under our rules and that they respond to our physical world tests, you are not recognizing and working within the paradox.

Did you have any synchronicities, thoughts, or messages before coming to our class? Share some!

No, sorry.  I was too busy preparing for Dr. Schwartz’ research reading and my presentation later that evening.  When my focus is so fixedly on the physical world, it is hard for those in spirit to get through to me.

Why does she think that only after experiencing a major loss she was able to get these messages?  This seems to be a pattern with a lot of mediums that we've talked about this semester.  They have experienced some situation with death and then their gifts came to them. 

Prior to my step-daughter’s death, I was solely focused on my life in physical form and my military career.  Because of this strict focus, I did not have any spiritually transformative experiences.  After Susan’s death, my priorities changed.  I wanted to learn more about the possible existence of a greater reality, so I began reading spiritual and metaphysical books (beginning with Dr. Schwartz’ The Afterlife Experiments) and meditating daily.  This shift in focus resulted in my personal transformation.  The rest is history (as chronicled in my memoir, Messages of Hope). 

It is a nice story. But she could be less dramatic during her medium reading (I played a 7 minute video that included excerpts of the actual reading for Wolf’s father and step-mother).

Oh, God bless you, my friend.  Your comment made me laugh at how differently we can perceive things.  You may call that “drama,” but I call it “joy” and “awe.”  To sit with eyes closed, to feel, see, and hear things from someone who has died, and have these things validated by a spirit’s family is truly AWEsome.  To show that spirit-being’s loved ones that their consciousness has survived death brings great JOY. 

Perhaps these days it is “cool” to act bored, uninterested, or nonchalant, but I find life to be one great miracle, to be celebrated each moment with overt enthusiasm.  May I never become blasé’ about talking to the spirits of deceased people.  What you heard in that recording of actual communication with higher consciousness was not drama.  It was a clear reflection of how I feel and who I am.

I was raised with no formal religion and have not read much of the Bible, but since you are studying the psychology of religion and spirituality, there could be no more appropriate quote to add to this discussion than Matthew 18:3 - And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Many blessings to you all on your journey.

  

The Irrepressible Spirit of Carly Hughes

I know what grief feels like.  When my step daughter was struck by lightning at age 27 and killed along with her unborn child, the pain was nearly unbearable.  That’s why, when I received an email from Irene Vouvalides, a grieving mother who expressed a desperate desire to connect with her recently deceased daughter through a medium, I moved her to the top of my waiting list. 

We conducted the session by phone.  I had no idea what Irene or her daughter looked like.  The only thing Irene had told me in advance was that Carly had died of esophageal cancer.  This lack of details in advance is my preference.  It meant that anything I sensed would be directly from the spirit of Irene’s daughter.

A good signal across the veil is never guaranteed, but the connection with Carly turned out to be the kind I pray for:  “five bars,” like the cell phone signal that connected her mom and me during that hour-long reunion, complete with imagery, physical symptoms in my body, and a sense of presence that left no doubt that Carly was on the line.

Afterwards, I went straight to my computer, opened a browser, and typed in “CarlysKidsFoundation.com” as directed by Irene.  When the homepage opened, I sucked in a breath.  The banner showed an image exactly like the one that had flashed through my mind’s eye early in the reading. 

“I’m seeing little black boys,” I had said to describe the fleeting image of a young blond woman with her arms around two smiling African-American children.  By this time I had already heard the word “teacher” from Carly, and Irene had confirmed that her daughter’s degree was in education.  I correctly sensed that Carly held some kind of administrative job, and asked, “Did she work in a system that was racially inclusive?  There’s something about race."

“Absolutely,” Irene exclaimed, her excitement palpable through the phone.  “She did service trips to the oldest African American Catholic school in the Mississippi Valley, and that’s what the focus of our foundation has been.

“She got to hug some of those kids, and it was her greatest joy,” I reported.

“Oh yes,” Irene confirmed.  “I have pictures of her hugging them.”

Staring at Carly’s Kids website now, I shook my head.  Anyone who didn’t know the value I place on integrity might have suspected I had Googled Irene and her daughter before the reading.  To do so is unthinkable.  I know firsthand the immense healing and comfort that come from hearing verifiable details known only to the family from a loved one we think is gone forever.  It was just such an experience with a medium that led me to uncover my own ability to communicate with those who have passed.  The opportunity to pay that gift forward is one I hold sacred above all else.

Happily, Carly provided many details in the session with her mother that could not be found on the Internet.

“She shows me you holding a teddy bear against your chest, like snuggling with this … getting comfort from a stuffed animal.”

“She had a bear that she got when she was born,” said Irene.  "She slept with it every night, and now I hold it to my chest and smell her in it.”

“She puts a ring on your hand … on the right hand.”

“I do wear one of her rings on my right hand.”

"It feels like she was cremated, and there are hands in the ashes like you are sifting through them.  It’s very specific.”

“Yes, she was cremated, and my husband and her boyfriend separated them into small containers"

“I’m seeing a big mountain with a K … K sound to the mountain.”

“Her boyfriend was in Africa climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro when she passed.

“He shouldn’t feel guilty about not being there.  There’s a feeling that she’d like to be more adventurous, but she was not quite matching him.  I feel like I just want to curl up on a couch with a nice, soft blanket and be snuggled in."That’s what she did.”

“I have shooting pains in my head.  I’m light-headed and dizzy.  Arterial blockage.  Clotting of some sort.  It’s like I bled out.”

“Carly fainted in my arms.  She suffered from blood clots and ultimately did bleed out.”

 This was the kind of evidence I pray to receive during a reading.   I could feel Irene’s joy.  It was several days after our session that I discovered that one set of details stood out among the many Carly got through.  

 “I just got a picture of the Bible,” I had reported, “but then it turned into another book that’s signed inside the cover.  Is there a Bible?” I asked even as I heard Irene gasp.

Her answer carried a mixture of laughter and sniffles.  “No.  I’m sitting with it now.  ‘My bible,’ I call it.  It’s George Anderson’s ‘Walking in the Garden of Souls,’ and he signed it for me.”

“Most people sign on the right, but this is on the left side.” I said.

“Yes, on the left side he wrote a message about Carly, and on the right side is a prayer in Latin.”

As an author, I have signed thousands of autographs, and I have quite a few autographed books from other authors in my personal library.  The signature is always on the right-hand page.  That Carly would be so specific—and so accurate—about this “bible” being signed on the left side just inside the cover delighted me.  This tiny detail gave her mother all the evidence she needed to confirm her daughter’s presence. 

“I set my intention that if Carly could come through, you would mention that book,” Irene stated in a follow-up email.  “I call it ‘my bible’ and carry it with me always.  George signed the book for me.  He signed the inside left cover as well as the inside right.  I knew then without any doubt that Carly was present." 

“Sleep comes to me now,” Irene wrote after describing the nagging insomnia that had plagued her since Carly’s death.  “I was right there in the room with her.  You connected us with a purity that words cannot describe.  I felt for the first time since she passed how I felt whenever Carly and I were together.”

In my work as a medium, I have come to know beyond a doubt that what love has joined together, the death of the physical body cannot separate.  This truth was evidenced in the beautiful spirit I felt with me during that reading.

“There’s a purity about her that’s unusual … an acceptance of others … an all-inclusiveness.  There’s a feeling of my arms going out and just embracing the world.  She loved kids.  She loved people.  She loved you.  There’s a feeling that at times she couldn’t hold it all in.”

“Everybody called her a love bug,” Irene confirmed.

 “There’s this desire to sing because she had this joy inside her that just wanted to come out, but she really couldn’t sing.” 

“Not at all,” Irene laughed through her tears, “We would joke about it all the time.”

And now she says, ‘Everybody would call this—her death—a tragedy, but don’t see it that way.  I left my mark.  You’re carrying it on.”

Indeed, as I delved deeper into the Carly’s Kids website, I learned that with the efforts of Carly’s family, her boyfriend Mike, and the generous donations of many loving souls, the foundation has accomplished much in the short time since Carly passed.  Ongoing support to the foundation will continue to keep Carly’s memory alive, but thanks to a five-bar phone call from Heaven, Carly’s irrepressible spirit is more than just a memory.  

I know from reuniting thousands of souls that this life is not all there is.  Our loved ones who pass are still very much with us, and we will see them again when we, too, pass through the veil.  Until then, they will go to great effort, as Carly did so well, to show us that love does indeed last forever.

What's Yours?

Here's a new and fun way of looking at ourselves, courtesy of Sanaya (my team of guides):

In my "Let Your Spirit S.O.A.R." course I teach that each of us has our own unique vibration or frequency.  This energetic signature is an average of all of the thoughts we've had and the actions we've taken throughout our lives.   The more loving the thoughts and actions, the more refined the frequency.  A sensitive person can actually feel another person's "frequency."  This is why you resonate or "click" with some people and feel dissonance with others, because you are consciously or subconsciously comparing your frequency with theirs.

So there I was teaching my S.O.A.R. workshop last weekend.  I was explaining that each of us has a unique signal.  When people are able to sense other's thoughts without them being present, we call that telepathy.  It's a matter of tuning in to the waves of information-carrying energy that fill the seemingly empty space around us.  Our environment is filled with unseen energy, including cell phone signals, TV and radio signals, and others' thoughts.  Normally, we need a special instrument to perceive these signals, be that a cell phone, a television set, a radio, or a brain.  All of these--the brain included--are instruments that are perfectly designed to receive and/or transmit specific signals. 

I explained that cell phones are designed to pick out signals encoded only to one particular phone number.  That's when Sanaya gave my lip the familiar twitch that lets me know I'm being helped, and whispered in my ear: "And like your phones, each of you has your own unique ringtone as well."

Wow.  I love that analogy!

That got me thinking about how we would sound to each other if we could actually hear each other's ringtone.  I remembered a movie once where one of the characters had programmed their phone to make an awful shriek whenever their mother called.  What a way to be recognized!  Happily, other people cannot program our ringtones for us.  Once we reach adulthood, we are solely responsible for our personal ringtone (and I'm not talking about your phone now).  So the question is:  How would your ringtone sound to someone sensitive enough to hear your tune?  Would it be an ear-splitting shriek or a line from a love song?

The good news is, if you don't like the tune you're playing now, just as with your phone, you can change it.  It all comes down to the choices you make from one moment to the next.  This post is going to appear on my Facebook and Twitter page.  I'd love to hear from you:  What's Your ringtone? 

The Room of Choice and Opportunity

Friend Clint Stull shared with me a vision he experienced while on a recent walk.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

"I AM seated against a wall in the center of a long room with a door at each end. In front of me is a window with a view of the world. The sun is shining and I can see the graceful movement of the trees swaying within a subtle sweet breeze. There is an inviting and comfortable looking couch in front of the window. Suddenly the sun becomes obscured and foreboding clouds begin to move in. I hear an aggressive knock at one of the doors, it’s fear wanting to enter and you can hear worry mumbling behind him in an infinite hallway.

"Fear becomes more insistent and the knocking becomes more aggressive. There is an urge to jump up from my seat and place myself against the door to keep fear out, but instead I decide to say, “OK, come in”. He enters darkly with worry and anxiety trailing behind, and looks to the comfortable couch in front of the window where the foreboding sky fills the window frame. I say, “You may pass through, but you are not invited to stay”. He’s very annoyed by this and is insistent. He and his family members would like to settle in for an extended visit. I choose to not engage him and point to the other door where he is to exit. He looks at me directly to test my resolve and reluctantly saunters toward the door and departs with his family members.

"Through the window I can see the clouds are dispersing and the sun is beginning to break through. There is another knock, a sweet sound at the door. It’s Gratefulness, and I say “Come in please! Make yourself at home." She takes a seat in front of the window in all her radiance. Now there is another knock at the door.  This time it's Happiness. I invite him in. Gratefulness knowingly smiles, and I say to Happiness, “I know you can’t stay, but I do appreciate your visit.” After filling the room with good feeling and expanding in the presence of Gratefulness, he passes through and exits. Gratefulness rises and decides to take a seat next to me and remain.  
                   
"These visits, in all forms, are ever constant. They come and go for a lifetime. But because Gratefulness has remained seated beside me, all that come and pass through I treat as honored guests. All that arrive come with something to give. Fear and worry now depart quickly.  Love now enters without knocking and goes directly to the window seat."   

Sammy Sends His Love

I want to share a beautiful confirmation I received that those in spirit are truly with us and that mediums are not simply “reading the mind of the client.”

During a reading last November I heard the name “Sammy” (I’ve been given permission to share this story anonymously, so I’ve changed his name). My client said, “That’s my good friend’s husband’s name, but he passed.” Sammy then proceeded to share with me a message that he wanted my client to pass along to his wife.

I had forgotten about that brief visit until I received a most welcome letter this week from Sammy’s wife. It seems that my client had, indeed, delivered her husband’s message. The wife wrote “You said that there was this ‘spirit’ named Sammy who knew my friend, and he wanted to let me know that he was okay. He mentioned something about ‘pain in the stomach, cancer, colon cancer, and surgery,’ among other details. On the same day of the reading, I had an appointment with a proctologist. A week later I discovered I had a malignant tumor in the colon. I had surgery on November 28. They took out the tumor, and thank God I won’t have to have chemotherapy or radiation. What stunned me the most was that Sammy, my deceased husband, knew about my cancer before I knew, and he looked for an opportunity to let me know and tell me how he was doing.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about all this,” she continued. “I’m a skeptical person, but, now I must say that I WAS a skeptical person. I started reading Messages of Hope, and it made me cry, but it was a joyful cry. I had always thought of spirits in a negative way, as in evil spirits, but I never thought about spirits full of love. I must thank you, because indirectly I know now that my husband is okay. He is with me, and will be all the time.”

I am so grateful this woman took the time to share this magical story with me and that she has allowed me to share it with you. What is it I advise people all the time? “Talk to them. They hear you.”

Never Alone

Many people have no trouble believing in angels.  For this retired Navy Commander, it took a lot of convincing, but those angels I used to not believe in know how to get through to us.  I have shared in my workshops some of the irrefutable evidence that angels at the highest level have given me . 

The first time I felt the presence of Archangel Michael in meditation, I thought, "There is no way I am going to share this with anyone!"  During that unexpected encounter he told me several things that at the time made no sense.  He spoke of Hebrews, and antennas, and coherence, and a gift.  I wrote down the words as I heard them.  The photo at the left is of the actual notes I took during that memorable visit.  Hours later, my husband and I had an encounter on a trail that changed my view of angels forever.  We "happened" upon a man and woman from Israel speaking what?  Hebrew.  After chatting for a few moments I learned that the husband was an engineer.  His specialty?  Antennas.  His wife was a scientist.  She didn't believe in mediums, but was at a loss to explain our chance encounter on that trail, especially when we chatted some more and I discovered her name was "Michal" and that the work of both she and her husband focused on coherence.  I realized then that this chance encounter, on a trail we happened upon after missing a turn-off, was the "gift" of which Archangel Michael had spoken.  From that moment I knew that angels are real and that we can communicate with them.

On Sunday, March 1st, I gathered with a couple hundred friends to share my guides' messages with them while in an expanded state of consciousness.  In these sessions I go into a meditative state, surrender my focus on the human side of myself, and invite Sanaya to speak through me.  Sanaya has told us they "she/they" are a collective consciousness of my guides and others in spirit.  The group learned Sunday night that Archangel Michael is part of this collective consciousness. 

I was quite surprised that he came through publicly.  Why?  Because all of this is still a bit outside of my comfort zone as a former left-brained, military type.  The emails I received after the session from those who were present with that energy took away my discomfort.  Several, including those who had never before seen an aura, reported seeing a large angel-shaped wing behind me as Michael spoke through me.  They felt the room grow warm, then cool.  The message he shared was profound and quite timely.

I found one email especially affirming and received permission to share it with you:

"Suzanne, Sunday's Sanaya session was wonderful!  During the channeling,  I received a message from Spirit and considered writing to you about my experience.  Since I knew you would be getting a lot of angel stories this week, I asked Spirit for confirmation.  I documented my experience yesterday.  Attached is a link to the newspaper I review every day.  This story was being featured this morning:

Minnesota college tragedies: Drunk, frozen and underage  

The headline was the confirmation, and then, the first paragraph even mentions "in an alley" - I had to stop reading, I couldn't go on...    (Why?)  Here is the documentation about my experience on Sunday evening:  

The message came during the channeling when Archangel Michael (Sanaya) mentions that we are always protected and never alone.  I was sitting with eyes closed, listening with a quiet mind.  Suddenly, the image of a dark neighborhood alley on a very cold winter night flashed before me – I knew immediately that this meant I was watched over that night, that angels do protect us (the incident happened during my freshman year in college (’67-’68) when I had way too much to drink, was walking home alone down an icy alley late at night, wearing insufficient clothing for the weather, very tired, my thinking impaired, trying to focus, and all I wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep – had I stopped or fallen, I would have frozen to death)  The memory of that night "hit" me as if it were yesterday...   

(The writer continues...) For years I have thought how very, very lucky I was that night.  Only now do I realize the significance of that event and what was really going on.  Thank you Spirit.  Thank you Sanaya.  Thank you Suzanne.    "

... and I say, "Thank you, Archangel Michael, and the rest of the group we call Sanaya for believing in US.  Your message to us Sunday night is oh so important."

I encourage you, my friends reading this post, to read the transcript from the March 1st session that is posted on my website and to listen along to the recording as you do so.  It is an energetic experience that will speak directly to your soul.  Here's the link to the page where you will find both: http://www.suzannegiesemann.com/sanayasessions/

Many blessings as we follow this beautiful journey together.
 

The Only Answer

Hurt people hurt people ... and animals, too, it seems.  One hour ago I was driving through my community and had to slow for a beagle crossing in front of my car and several others.  We never see unleashed, unaccompanied dogs around here.  Concerned for his safety, I pulled into an adjacent parking lot and approached him.  He was quite friendly, so I held onto his collar while dialing the phone numbers on his tag.  When nobody answered, I started leading him by the collar back towards my car, thinking I could use one of my dogs' leashes and start knocking on doors to find the owner. 

A man saw me and said, "There's a guy over there looking for that dog."  I turned to my right and saw a large, older man approaching.  I smiled and led the dog to him.  Without saying a word, the owner scooped up his sweet pet, pulled back his arm as he growled, "Damn dog!" and smacked him hard.

Shocked, I said, "Please don't hit him.  Just give him love."  The man raised his arm again and I moved towards him, saying, "Don't hit him!  You both just need love!" which only seemed to infuriate the man more, as he then swept his arm out at me, instead, thankfully only brushing me lightly, but sparing the dog.

I knew then that what Sanaya has been sharing through me over the past few years (www.SanayaSays.com) has truly made a difference, because I felt only compassion ... for the dog, for the man's wife who had come up behind him but was silently hanging back looking appalled, and for the man as well.  As he stomped away I couldn't help but say, "I surround you all with love."  (It sounds so naïve as I write it, but I could only hope that at some level the energy that went with the words would get through his thick armor).  He shouted back, "You can just go to Hell."

He stormed past his wife, who gave me an apologetic look that spoke volumes.  I put my hands in prayer position and bowed slowly, locking eyes with hers with a message I could tell she understood.  She shouted my way, "You should live in our house," in a tone of voice that said, "That's the real Hell."

My friends, I live a very sheltered life.  I know this.  I am surrounded by a loving husband, a loving family, loving friends, and two of the most loving dogs in the world.  I can see pain any time I want to simply by turning on the TV or reading the paper, but I choose peace.  Every once in a while, however, the Universe makes sure we get a reminder that there is much work to be done and that our world is filled with hurting people who are completely blinded to who they really are.  My words and actions may have fallen on deaf ears, but I know for certain that you don't fight anger and pain by dishing it back at the one who is wounded.  You bring in what's missing.

May Love find Its way, by Grace, into that man's heart and soften it.  May his wife realize that she DOES have a choice and find a path to peace.  And may that little dog, who is one of God's greatest messengers, know that I love him.

Group Think Re-Thunk

Earlier this evening as I pondered what to wear to my weekly flute choir practice, I questioned the decision to reach for my khaki slacks.  I hadn't worn them in at least a year, but for some reason, the choice felt right.  When perusing my selection of tops, I decided on a solid black long-sleeved polo shirt with khaki trim around the collar and cuffs.  It had been at least two years since I'd worn that particular top.  After twenty years of wearing a khaki uniform with collared shirt, in recent years I've leaned towards collarless tops and more stylish slacks.  I checked the outfit in the mirror and liked the look, but I was subtly aware that the choice was not what I normally wore to the rehearsals.

Half an hour later when I walked into our practice room, the women already seated started laughing.  It didn't take long to notice why.  Four others in addition to me--nearly half of our small choir-- were wearing light or khaki colored slacks and a solid black or navy top with contrasting trim.  Not for the first time, my fellow bass flute player and I were dressed like twins.

Halfway through the rehearsal, out of the blue our director stated, "I remember going to an orchestra rehearsal once where half of the players showed up in pink.  It was bizarre."

One of our members asked why she mentioned this at that particular moment, having already commented on our look-alike outfits at the beginning of rehearsal.  Our director replied, "I don't know.  It just came off the top of my head."

Sitting there hearing her words, I received an unexpected "hit" from Sanaya.  Their message came in a burst of awareness as their concepts often do.  As I let the download "unfold" mentally, word by word, I knew that the thought our director had just blurted out was actually part of their message: 

"Thoughts are not owned by the individual thinker.  All thoughts belong to the universal Mind.  The thought just spoken by your director was put there by us as evidence of this teaching.  Groups such as this one take on a group consciousness.   Each individual has what they consider their own thoughts, but as the  so-called individual consciousness prepares to gather with a particular group, the thoughts begin to coalesce.  As the individual members of this choir prepared for the rehearsal, their thoughts came into alignment in such a way that those sensitive to vibrations began to think coherently--as one with the others.  The result is that as each member made a clothing choice, the others picked up on this and thus made a similar choice, with each one thinking the thought was their own. 

We prepared this lesson for you to show how group consciousness works.  Can you see how entire organizations and even nations take on a belief system and these beliefs are quite often followed blindly by members of the group?  Only when you pay attention to your thoughts and keep in mind that you always have a choice as to whether or not you act on them can you rise above a group consciousness that may be detrimental to the growth of the whole.  Certainly there is no damage to be done by a choice in clothing, but we ask you to be aware of going along with the crowd when choices are made which are not of the highest order--when they are not based on love, kindness, and compassion.  If you question your thoughts and actions, perhaps there is reason to question.

That is all."

Wow.  And I thought I was just getting dressed for a rehearsal. 

Love at the Center

In my work as an evidential medium, I talk to many fathers who have passed to the other side.  Many times my clients are happy and relieved to hear from their dad, but that’s not always the case.  More often than one would hope, a man comes through with an apology to his child.  What can at first be an awkward or painful reunion ends up being an opportunity for healing to take place on both sides of the veil.

My dad has visited me several times since his passing in 2008 at age 92, and I have welcomed each visit with joy.  I love my dad dearly, and that love has always been reciprocated.  Each time that I have sensed his  spirit's presence, I’ve asked him to tell me something that is going on with my mother that I don’t know about.  With this validation, she and the rest of my family know for sure that he really visited me.  He has always provided excellent verifiable evidence, like the time he told me to talk to my mother about her electric curlers, telling me that something was wrong with them.  I called Mom immediately, and she told me that she had cleaned her closet the day before and found her old electric curlers, but they didn’t work anymore.  Way to go, Dad!

If you’ve read my memoir, Messages of Hope, you’ll recall the reading I had in which my Dad came through quite clearly.  I knew for sure he was there when he said to the medium, “Just call me Bill.”  It was the first thing my father would say whenever anyone learned that his real name was Oliver.  Dad was named after his father, Oliver L. Smeltzer, but everyone in his family had always called him “Bill.”  Dad thought this was better than being called “Junior.”

The origin of Dad’s name is actually quite interesting:  O.L. Smeltzer Senior’s father lived close to the family of a Mr. Oliver Love.  Supposedly, somebody in Oliver Love’s family saved somebody in our great grandfather’s family from drowning, and Great Granddaddy named his sixth son after Oliver Love.   

When I sat to meditate this morning, my gaze fell on the desk across the room.  On it sits a foot-long wooden carving of the word “Love.”  It is always the last thing I see before I close my eyes to enter the silence, and for some reason, today I thought of Dad.  I recalled that his father died of tuberculosis when he was 8.  When the depression hit, at age 14 he was sent to live and work at the Milton Hershey School for Boys (yes, THE Milton Hershey of Hershey’s Chocolate fame, for whom Dad later served as personal assistant). 

It could not have been an easy childhood, yet Dad never let on about it. I have no memories of my dad ever uttering a critical word to me.  They say women often marry men like their fathers, and I can be rightly accused of that.  Like my husband, Ty, my dad was never anything less than fully supportive of anything I wanted to do, and he never hid his love for me. 

This morning, when looking at that wooden carving of the word “Love,” for the first time ever I realized “his middle name was Love.”  I had always known this in a literal sense, but I never thought of it in the metaphorical sense.  It wasn’t something we talked about.  For some reason, Dad was ashamed of that middle name.  We know this because he always insisted that the “L” was just an initial.  It was only after my brother started doing genealogy as an adult that he discovered my father had a middle name.   

Perhaps it was his difficult childhood that left my dad uncomfortable with overt displays of affection around anyone other than his immediate family.  Perhaps that is why he disliked his middle name.  I may never know the real reason for his discomfort.  What I do know is that he and my mother—who also had a challenging childhood—found a deep and enduring love with each other, and they passed that love on to their children.  It is a gift for which I am eternally grateful.

As I’ve learned from reuniting so many adult children with their fathers, the gift of love is transformational.  Receiving that love from across the veil, whether it comes from the wispy gesture of a hug, a kiss, or a head bowed in apology, can reignite the love within.  That love lives in each of us, but for some reason—perhaps from grief, from guilt, or from some other human emotion—it burns less brightly in some than in others. 

My father’s middle name was Love.  It is my hope that these words ignite in your soul the remembrance that Love is your middle name, too.  No matter what kind of childhood you had, no matter if those around you failed to realize that their middle name was also Love, may you leave a legacy of love for all those whose lives you touch.

You Asked For It: - The Heart Meditation

Many of you have asked if you can get a recording of the Heart Meditation from my new book, Wolf's Message. Guess what? I've teamed up with my new musical partner, the amazingly gifted transformational music composer Jim Oliver, (www.JimO...liverMusic.com) to provide you the meditation as a gift from our heart to yours! I visited a Dallas recording studio and Jim and I selected just the right music for this project. I unveiled the meditation at the Celebration of Wolf's Message on October 19th in Oxford, FL, and the free MP3 is now available on my website as a free gift.

Angel Rays

For those of you who enjoy the signs that show us we are not alone, you will appreciate how Spirit works to get our attention... If you are reading this on Twitter or Facebook, see all of the photos in the original blog entry at http://suzannegiesemannwhatsnew.blogspot.com/2014/09/angel-rays.html


When I posted this morning's message from Sanaya (September 2nd)
I searched for an appropriate photo to accompany their words about darkness and light.  I was drawn to choose the one shown here on the left, even though I hesitated because it seemed a bit too dark.  The post was forwarded to my Facebook page.  One follower called what you see "angel rays."  Another follower, Marla Grant, wrote, "Suzanne, I am absolutely stunned to see this picture. It is the exact image from a deeply seminal dream I had a few years ago - so strong and profound that I wrote the dream down and have gone back to it repeatedly over the years. (I'm) Just amazed."


A short while later Marla sent me a message with the screenshot shown on the right, taken this morning by the webcam at the Chateau Lake Louise where Ty and I stood not two weeks ago.  We were both stunned by the similarity in the two photos.  Marla included the description of her dream, which occurred at a time in her life when she was struggling to understand what real love is. 

 Marla wrote, “In my dream, I was standing in a very wide open space, like a field or a deserted beach, looking up towards the sky. I was gazing in utter terror at an elliptical portal in the sky through which I understood I was meant to pass on my own. Though unseen, I sensed two benevolent spirits, one on each side of the portal, more or less making it accessible to me. A strong, forceful voice was communicating silently with me explaining that the veil of darkness was very thin, with nothing but light on the other side. I was filled with terror at the thought of having to pass through unaccompanied and the entity urging me on was aware of these strong thoughts and feelings. He continued to explain that only on my own, in finding the strength and the wisdom to approach the unknowable, would I be able to pass through. Like a child, I objected and insisted that I needed to be taken through but he was steadfast yet compassionate in his urging, trying to help me find the means within myself to make the journey….the one journey I knew in my waking hours could only be made alone. The dream ended there.”

Marla explained that she has always felt that she has two spirit guides with her.  (Sanaya has assured me that each of us has at least one guide assigned to us for life.)  Marla wrote, "While many challenges remain, I am no longer in terror and have much more light and peace in my life.  Isn’t it interesting that just last night, before seeing your picture and this one at Lake Louise, I ran across this transcript of my dream, tucked away for some 15 years with some poetry and very old communications related to that period. I had determined to shred them all, that part of my life being over, and I’ve put it in its proper place of love and forgiveness for having brought me to where I am now. So glad I saw your post before shredding."

 

Not only do I appreciate the meaning of these photos for Marla, they are very significant in light of the reading I gave this morning.  With thanks to my client for giving me permission to share these details, I sensed her mother with us in spirit, but I found it quite unusual that she did not speak or communicate with me other than to show herself.  Instead, I began breathing rapidly as I do when I bring through the higher energy of Sanaya.  Suddenly I was aware of the presence of two very powerful angels.  Were it not for the astounding energy I felt and the accurate evidence they gave me about my client's life, my left-brain might have dismissed the experience as sheer imagination. 

Instead, one of these angels proceeded to explain that the woman in spirit (my client's mother) had taken her own life.  Once my client confirmed this, the angels then told us that they had accompanied and carried her mother through every step of her journey.  Indeed, they showed themselves holding her up under each arm.  What followed was an intense and intensely healing session for all concerned as they spoke for my client's mother, explaining why she made the choices she did and the regrets she was working to overcome.  At the end of the reading, after a profound lesson in forgiveness, the angels stepped to the side, and my client's mother smiled and appeared to float upward.

I'm so grateful to Marla for sharing the significance of the two portal photos.  Is the timing of Sanaya's message and the photos merely coincidence, or simply a beautiful reminder to all of us that we never walk alone, whether here or beyond the veil?  I believe there are no coincidences.  Our guides know that life here is difficult.  As Sanaya reminded us in this morning's post, our challenges serve such great purpose in helping us to find the Light within ourselves.  Many blessings to you as you move moment by moment closer to the Light through your loving choices.