High in your chest - a Star

Millions of love-tents bloom on the plain.
A star in your chest says,
None of this is outside you - Rumi

from Ron to Jane-

Medums #1 -Superman meets Supernatural

John Edwards is a medium. A while back he demonstrated his skills and recorded 24 episodes of his now famous, "Crossing Over" episodes for the WE channel. Since the death of Jane's sister (see previous posts), we were watching John Edwards, trying to make sense of this tragedy. I never took much stock in mediums or psychics. I did not think I would ever come face to face with a real one. Actually, I was quite skeptical and chalked most 'readings' up to parlor tricks. Yet when faced with Jane's overwhelming grief, I began to investigate the possibility of an afterlife and if there is an afterlife, can one communicate with those who  'cross- over'? So off we went to see John Edwards. There's nothing like a first-hand experience with a bona fide psychic to change your perception of the world.

We ended up in San Jose, California along with 35 other grieving souls. John Edwards and a colleague,  Jonathan Louis were doing an all day program. We were split into 2 groups, one in the morning with one medium and one in the afternoon with the other. I must say that John Edwards proved to be a major disappointment. I don't know what was going on with him, but most of his attention went to those in the front row. These people seemed to be repeat customers at his gatherings and who knows- maybe repeat business deserves loyalty and attention. One lady complained to the staff, but the staff said John Edwards has no control over which 'spirits' will come to him. Maybe it's true, but  his 'gatherings' are not  cheap and that combined with the pain of losing a loved one- well, you get a bit angry.  

  

Fortunately, the other medium, Jonathan Louis was remarkable. We actually liked him so much we went to see him again in Colorado. There are many stories to tell about these two meetings and over the course of  the Ronnie Coyote blog I will tell my stories and perhaps Jane will tell you her stories as well. But for now, let me tell you about Superman.

Jonathan Louis begins by opening to the 'other side' and relaying his impressions from 'them' to us, the audience. Often, he is drawn to a certain area of the audience or to a person and may say something like "Did you lose a son? I'm getting a younger energy." Most times, he's right on. At one point, he said to the group, "Superman,  for some reason I'm getting  the image of Superman." I did not respond.  Meanwhile Jane is nudging me to speak up. But, I'm kind of a shy guy and didn't say anything. So the moment passed.

In our 2nd meeting with Jonathan some 4 months later in Colorado, Superman came up again.  This time Jonathan came over to me and said, "I'm getting Superman." Well this time, I said, "Yes, Superman was important  to me."

   

Now most men of my generation  remember listening to or watching Superman.   I suspect most of us boys had a secret desire for super powers, but I doubt few took it to the extreme I did.

  

Here's my story: 

When I was four years old, Superman was my hero. I lived with my mom and sister. Mom and Dad were never married so that made me a bastard, a rather derogatory designation in those days. Dad was not around and I remember envying the other kids with their 'normal families'. Sister mostly took care of me as mom was always at work. However, sis was in her teens and often distracted, so I entertained myself a lot. I loved comic books and the huge grasshoppers in the back yard. I had a favorite record I played over and over.  I remember the day it broke and how upset I was.  I can't believe I found this song - the last time I heard it, I was a little guy. It's Jimmy Rodgers' Bim Bom Bay

 We didn't have a TV, but I did listen to an old-fashioned  radio and on the radio I listened to Superman -

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! 

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound! 

 "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" 

 "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another galaxy..

For those wanting the Superman TV intro hit- here you go:

I loved hearing those words. Still do. To my young mind, Superman was everything I wanted to be- strong, impervious to pain, a savior and he could fly! And the Superman comic books, oh what great adventures I had with them. The stories were magical and fun. At night I dreamt of flying-  over the treetops, over the town.  Sometimes I'd fly so high I'd get scared and wake up. 

At four years of age, I was a wee tiny guy -one day while walking down the street with my jean jacket draped over my shoulder, a strong wind caught hold of my jacket and sent it flying up into the sky. I jumped to grab it and the wind caught hold of my tiny body and moved me through the air. "I'm flying - I'm flying - I'm Superman!", I thought. What a thrill. From that day on I believed I could fly.

When mom was at work, I went to the day nursery. The nursery building was huge and austere.  Made of massive rock-like bricks, it felt like a World War II bunker. In back was the playground with swings, teeter totters and merry go-rounds. I spent many a day trying to balance myself on that teeter totter, standing on the wooden plank with one leg on each side of the fulcrum, trying to find that right spot... where ' teeter' meets' totter '. The merry go-round made me sick so I didn't like it. I did love the swings however. I could swing and swing and then jump ...and for that brief moment I was airborne. I was flying.

One day there was a surprise at the nursery school. Someone donated an old car for us kids to play with. It was an old 1940'ish black Chevy, stripped of seats, windows and wheels. I remember wishing it still had the seats. It didn't feel right having to stand-up and steer that car. But, here it was, right in the middle of the play yard. Many 'make-believe' miles registered on that old odometer with imagined speed chases, runaway gangster and the like. It was not long before a plan began to form in my fertile mind. What if I jumped off the top of that car, just like Superman and flew? This fantasy took hold of  me..."Today, today I will fly", I thought. Then I would chicken out.  Over and over, I repeated the mantra ..." Today, today, I will fly." Only to chicken out again and again. "What if it doesn't work", I thought? I might get hurt - "I don't like pain!"

But one day I found the courage. I climbed on the top of the car, I had a cape on (don't ask me where I got it, I don't know). I looked around, shy, not wanting anyone to see me. I jumped.. straight out like...well,  like Superman and I flew....    for about one second ....then gravity grabbed me and I did a  belly flop in the not so soft sand below-it hurt! I began to cry. I walked away from the car towards the fence. Some older girls saw me crying and began to console me. They asked me why was I crying.. too embarrassed to reveal the truth- I said an older kid hit me. The girls comforted me and I curled up in their inviting arms. To this day I don't know if my tears were tears of pain or tears of a dream unfulfilled. 

I do know Jonathan Louis picked up on my Superman connection. How? I don't know. No one else there knew my story. Why this incident, why Superman? I don't know that either. I can only speculate. Maybe my guides wanted me to know they are with me- always, even then, protecting an adventurous four-year old Superman wannabe. Perhaps on some deep level I must fly, not in the physical sense, rather spiritually. Or maybe I was just meant to have this experience with Jonathan remembering there are mysteries afoot in the world. Like I said who knows?  Jonathan told me many other remarkable things at those gatherings, but I can't tell you everything at once can I?  

Precognitive Dreams #2 - Watch out for the Big Grey Hair!

I have other dreams with more numerous hits, but for now I will share this simple dream.

The Dream:

Had a dream while traveling in Colorado where this guy is hitting on Jane- he wants her.  He's not particularly good looking but dolls himself up in a white dress shirt, then a tux and a big grey-hair wig.  I tell him he has one shot at making it with Jane -but if unsuccessful he must leave her alone (I felt confident Jane would not go for him).

Precognitive Elements:

Next day- we are driving back home and stop into a Starbucks and this guy gets out of his car- all nicely dressed- white shirt and he has this huge head of grey hair.  We both remark on his head of hair and Jane says how interesting this guy looks.  I tell Jane about the dream.

Notes:    It was the head of hair that was so striking and the fact that he was all dressed up, white shirt and all.  The fact that Jane said he looked interesting relates 'to the man hitting on her energy' I sensed in the dream.

OBEs NDEs and some history

This morning-this quiet still morning. Dogs asleep waiting to be fed.  I feel a stillness, calm reflections of mysteries to unfold- (just this moment I look at Ruth's excellent blog, Rumi Days and read- "There is a morning where presence comes over you...").

When I was young- about 13 or 14,  I found a book on my parent's  bookshelf that really revolutionize my world at that age.  The book,  The Search for Bridey Murphy, written in 1952 is about a woman named Virginia Tighe of Pueblo, Colorado (my home town) who under a trance by an amateur hypnotist, Morey Bernstein,  recalls a previous life as an Irish girl in the 19th century.  Being brought up with traditional and somewhat oppressive Christian values,  this alternative possibility fascinated me to no end.  Could this be true?  Do we recycle again and again?  

In college I discovered the Don Juan books by Carlos Castenada and open once more to alternative possibilities.  I began to read everything on Zen, the Tao and more.  I even majored in Transpersonal Psychology (a form of psychology that studies the transpersonal, self-transcendent or spiritual aspects of the human experience). 

Later on in my life I discovered Robert Monroe's book, Journeys out of the Body and did indeed have an out of body experience or OBE as it is known in the trade.  I found myself floating by my window in my Tijeras, NM mountain home -it was one of the most distinct feeling I've ever had.  Just suspended - at first it was incomprehensible, it took me awhile to wrap my head around what was going on - when I did, fear set in - am I dead?  Immediately  I spiraled and I mean literally spiraled round and round and down and back into my body.  An incredible visceral experience - heart beating. rushing movement,  I landed safely back in my body.   I feared going back to that out of body place for many years, but finally circumstances in my life led me back.

In 2008, Jane, my partner lost her sister, Pam to a airplane accident.  We had just been together 7 months when this happened.  Jane's pain and her relenting question "Where is she, where's she gone" prompted me back to the question of the mystery of life and death.   We read nearly everything on Near Death Experiences (NDE), Out of body Experiences (OBE) and life beyond this physical realm.  I began reading a  book by Robert Bruce called Mastering Astral Projection, a 90 day guide to Out-of-the-Body-Experience.  Initially, I resisted this book as commercial hype.   One day I relented, said ok and started doing the exercises it suggested.  The book is alright, dry in places, tedious- but a journey none the less I took.  

The practices included energy work, relaxation, trance work and learning to reach beyond this realm into the next.  Most days were pleasant, peaceful meditations but uneventful.    Occasionally they left me without sleep and feeling tired the next day.  Yet on some days I would move beyond the 'normality' of everyday life.  Yes, I did have some out of body experiences, but what I found most fascinating were the pre-cognitive dreams I began to have.  These were not dreams foretelling impending doom and gloom about major events.  Mostly they were about the small things in my life- something that would happen with someone,  or I would read or watch a video and see my dream coming alive in the words and pictures.  Why these so called insignificant occurrences found their way in my dreams, I do not know.  Maybe they are  messages simply saying,' Hey there's something more going on here!  Wake up, don't be stuck in your linear time.' 

Precognitive Dreams #1 - a man and his car

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" -Hamlet. 

I told my son the other day I had a series of pre-cognitive dreams. Dreams where certain aspects would show up in my life the next day. My son's response was yeah right dad....(you know that look where your kids say your completely bonkers)  I said well it is easy to say that but when it happens to you - you soon change your tune. He agreed. So this whole idea of pre-cognitive dreams - it fascinates me to no end- especially since it' s happened to me more than a few times. What's going on?  I mean on some level the mere fact that you can intuit, dream or otherwise psychically know or sense something that hasn't happened yet, has huge implications. In non-local time, all realities past, present and future must already exist (Non-local in quantum physics means instant connections across the universe as if time and space did not exist). Does what I see in these precognitive dreams exist in some future reality? Does this mean a future self of me already exists? In fact all versions of me, past, present and future would seem to exist already. The quantum physicists will take it one more step and say that not only do all version exists, but can indeed exist in multiple parallel universes. Not sure about all of this, but I must confess something is going on.  I mean what's it all about Alfie?

One of my first experiences of this was when I had a dream about a little boy playing in a little car- one he could get into and drive around in the manner little boys and girls do. I remember being struck by this dream because my dad had taken a picture of my brother riding in such a car back in the 1950's. That morning, after the dream, I opened the newspaper and there on the pages was a picture - a rather large picture of a little boy with his car, just like the dream.  Coincidence you say - well at first I thought so, but as these dreams began to appear more and more - I began to suspect something was going on.

In future posts I will give more examples.  My partner, Jane and I both were having these 'precognitive dreams' and some of them were quite remarkable (at least to our limited view of the world).

Reed Song -Rumi (a video I made)

Reed Song:

Listen to the story told by the reed 

of being separated.

Since I was cut from the reed bed

I have made this

crying sound.  Anyone 

separated from someone he loves

understands what I say.

Anyone pulled 

from a source 

longs to go back.

At any gathering I am there, 

mingling in the laughing

and the grieving, a friend 

to each.

But few will hear the secrets

hidden with the notes.

No ears for that

Body flowing 

out of Spirit.

Spirit flowing 

from body.

No concealing that mixing,

But it's not given us

to see the soul.

The reed flute is fire, not wind

Be that empty.

Hear the love fire tangled in the notes

as bewilderment melts into wine.

The reed is a friend to all

who want the fabric torn

and drawn away.

The reed is hurt and salve combining

Intimacy

and longing for intimacy,one song

A disasterous surrender 

and a fine love, together.

Music and Words (click on image below)

Coyotes roaming the Airport Parking Lot

Out of Time

Out of Time,

Out of place,

A parking mausoleum

for travelers,

Intent on future places.

Cars, trucks here to die

For a while,

 Waiting for master’s key.

Coyote has no master.

At least these two skulking

Through this cemetery of iron

Wary – perhaps hungry, seeking

Food, game-  adventure?

On a plane I wonder about

These two as I future trip my mind,

So intent on being there ‘stead of here,

Floating through space over the frozen

Landscape of my life.

Caught in time,

Caught in space.