Signs of the Times

Religious history would tell us that God has communicated with man since the beginning of time in the form of visions, signs and miracles. It would be arrogant of man to think that God had stopped communicating with us in today's world. Each and every day can be miraculous if you simply open yourself up to the infinite possibilities of a personal relationship with your Higher Power.

I'd like to share with you a series of signs I recently received in hopes that you will begin to look closer at the serendipitous events in your life and allow a deeper meaning to unfold.

A week ago, I received a phone call from a friend who had just returned from a very meaningful spiritual retreat. She was very excited about the amazing signs and messages that had unfolded over the course of her weekend. After hanging up from her, I walked out on to my outside deck and thought to myself " how wonderful for her " but in the same moment I thought " I have not received a sign in quite sometime". Within seconds a beautiful hummingbird flew within inches of my face and hovered there, looking me directly in my eyes and then as quickly as it appeared, it flew away. Sign 1

Two days later, I was scheduled to do seminars and readings at a spa in the Poconos. Although I had been there many times before, this would be the first time I would be making the drive by myself. I readily admit I have a phobia with getting lost and even with GPS, and the whole idea of driving to a location 4 hours away made me very nervous. It was out of my comfort zone. I called upon the Angels in prayer prior to leaving and asked for them to give me courage and also safe travel. As I merged onto the Interstate Highway, I immediately noticed the license plate of the car in front of me. It said "ANGEL". Sign 2

I arrived safe and sound at the resort and began my weekend with 3 scheduled seminars and several readings. Before every seminar, I meditate and call in my Guides and Angels and ask for their insight and guidance so that I can present Numerology to my audience in a meaningful way. On Saturday night, a photo was taken of me in the seminar room and the photo had the most beautiful bright Orbs in it. One Orb in particular was caught in movement as it streaked past me. Sign 3

As my weekend at the retreat was drawing to an end, it was time to say goodbye to my daughter who had accompanied me. She had to leave early in the morning to get back in time for work and I had to stay until I finished my readings that day. I could feel the nervous tension returning at the thought of driving back home later in the day.

We had requested for her car to be brought up front and her luggage brought from the room but there seemed to be a delay which was quite unusual for a 5 star spa. We waited patiently but still did not see her car up front. My daughter commented to me that there must be a reason for the delay but finally my daughter asked at the front desk. There had been a mix up and they had mistakenly brought my car around instead of hers. Within a few minutes the situation was corrected and I was hugging her goodbye and wishing her a safe trip.

I walked back to my room and let myself in and my attention was drawn to the clock in the room. It was exactly 7:17 AM. It made me smile because had we not been delayed, I would have been back to my room much sooner.

7:17 may not mean much to you but it is my sign from above.

I am a Numerologist and am fully aware that the vibration of my name at birth is 717. My beautiful daughter who I had just said farewell to was born at 7:17. To add to other meanings of the 717, I began my career as a professional Numerologist after moving to a 717 area code. I also see 717 on the clock, on receipts and anywhere else you can get a number all the time without effort. I always take it as a sign of reassurance.

Sign 4

Skeptics might perceive my series of signs as being mere coincidences but when you get a sign from above it is always accompanied by a "knowing", something you feel in every fiber of your being where you realize, without question, that you have been Divinely blessed. Everyone can receive signs but you must first be open to receive them and consequently, begin looking for them and acknowledging them.

Once you have arrived at that destination, opening yourself up to receive, life becomes more meaningful as you are now able to communicate with your soul and your Higher Power.

No matter what your situation is, big dilemma or small, ask for a sign from above and you shall receive.

This one, yet another from a witness to an after death communication, is long but more than worth the time to read it.  It's just another validation that love is indeed eternal.

Chassie

Prologue

In the mid-70’s, Citizen Band Radio addicts (CBers, for short) were everywhere.  Much like Chat Room or Facebook faithfuls of today, people glued themselves to their base stations, typically tweaked to broadcast farther than the FCC allows.  Power mikes often bled into the TV sound systems of neighbors.  Not unlike the texting teens behind the wheel today, people endlessly broadcast their nonsensical blather, wearing the finish off the buttons on their hand-held mikes.  At night, local parking lots morphed into “CB Break” locations, gathering people of all ages--some still there until the wee hours.

Such a crowd of regulars congregated nightly at the Riverdale, Maryland I-HOP parking lot.  My husband and I were in our mid-thirties with three stair-step kids—the oldest being 15.  We enjoyed the CB phenomena and frequently drove our Rec Van to local breaks.  Jeff, a young man in his 20s, was a regular too; but not someone I gravitated toward because his drinking and demeanor got on my nerves. I never expected us to connect on any level, much less how and when we soon would.

I’d seen his young wife a few times, a small-boned pretty woman with long hair hanging past her hips.  If I were to use only one word peg to hang my impression of her, it would be “serious.”  Sharon, using the CB handle “Little Pony,” was in the early stages of a precarious pregnancy, but that fact didn’t keep Jeff home or Jeff behaving himself.  To be honest, I felt sorry for her.

It was all over the news, all over the CB channels:  “Jeff killed by police sharp shooter!”
CBers screamed “Turn on your TV!  Jeff’s been shot by the cops!”  I saw pictures of Jeff & Sharon’s brick home situated on hill, and the side screen porch where the marksman ended a young life as he stood there, his rifle pointed towards the floor.  Some called it “suicide by cop.”

As the drama played out, Sharon was in isolation in Prince Georges Hospital with a form of Hepatitis.  She spoke with the police and Jeff, but was powerless to come to him. She was very ill, and she had just lost her baby—the 2^nd pregnancy to fail. Jeff was a Viet Nam vet who had returned from his tour a very different and tormented man than the Jeff she married. Later, Sharon told me during his nightmares, he would be standing in the middle of their bed reenacting the horrors trapped in his mind.  He was drinking too much.  Apparently on emotional overload, he set up a scene with the police that all but guaranteed a bad end.  Imagine what it was for Sharon to watch TV and hear the newsman telling and retelling the events that shattered her world.

Sharon

A small, almost inaudible voice said “Rainmaker, call me.  This is Little Pony.”  I leaned close to my CB base station to try to hear her better if she spoke again.  She did not stay on long enough for me to ask if she really meant me.  Why me?  Knowing the tragedy she recently experienced, I made frantic calls trying to find someone who knew her land line (phone number).  There is a story as to why she called out that night, but the story is not relevant to what I am about to tell you.  Suffice it to say the universe was unfolding as it should.

We talked many weeks and hours during our melding into friendship.  I listened to Jeff stories, and admit my original take on him changed little regardless of how well she painted over the past with much brighter colors.  Sharon loved him, and that was the untainted truth.  Even if she shared the times Jeff was less than a good guy, she had a way of making his shortcomings sound not so wrong.  I believe it was who she needed him to be, and I had no desire to poke at the balloons of her faith.  As time when by, he was still the center of her universe.

Jeff

Sharon and I had already decided there was a pizza out there with our name on it.  We just had not gotten around to leaving her house—it was one of those unhurried free afternoons.  I was slouched on her couch, and she was sitting across the room by the fireplace talking, but not looking at me. However, I was looking at Jeff standing at the far end of the room, backlit by the dining room’s sunglow.  He was looking directly at me, his arms folded across his chest, his one foot crossed over his ankle, his hip a bit akimbo, and his head slightly tilted as if listening intently.  If I ran a movie projector to show a film clip, but did not have a screen to project it on to, this would best describe how I “saw” Jeff. Jeff looking directly at me, eavesdropping.

I interrupted Sharon, and asked “Do you ever sense that Jeff is in this house?”  She rose as she answered me, saying Jeff was around a lot but didn’t mention it to anyone knowing people would find ways to discount it or think her quite mad.  As she stopped at the exact spot I’d seen Jeff, and struck the same pose as he, Jeff vanished.  “He was just here on this spot,” she said.  Disbelief set in.  Had Sharon’s mind been so strong that I was the receiver of her belief system at work?

Sharon sat back down, completely at ease with Jeff’s spirit in her house.  Of course I told her I’d seen him also, but she didn’t react as I expected.  It was more like “Of course.  After all, he was just here.”

Her couch backs up against the wall under a picture window yet I sensed Jeff being directly behind me.  I didn’t look as reason told me there was no space for him.  When I think, I think in voice and words as if I were actually talking out loud.  This is how I “heard” Jeff speak.  He was giving me a list of wants and complaints.  Among the things he said, “I don’t like the CB base station being moved to the back room.  Why did she put a wall phone in the kitchen against my wishes?  I don’t care if she makes love with someone, just don’t do it on the mattress where we made babies.”   I don’t recall the entire list now, but when Sharon gave pause in her own conversation, I repeated Jeff’s words.  She shared the back-story of why these things mattered to him, and promised aloud to Jeff that the mattress was on its way out the door.  That’s when I felt a chill, thinking “Oh my God, he really is here!”

Epilogue

I moved to Florida in 1977, and Sharon flew down from Maryland to spend time with me.  She and I were sitting yoga-style on my queen bed, chatting as girlfriends do, when Jeff’s voice spoke to me for the last time.  All he asked of me was, “Find out if Sharon knew I had cheated on her, would she forgive me?”  Without ever telling her why I was asking then or since, I said, “If you ever found out Jeff was not faithful; would you forgive him or love him less?”

She did not take time to think on her answer, but talked instead about how disturbed Jeff was once he returned from Nam, and there were many things she forgave because she blamed the war and not Jeff.  Many years later, after Sharon remarried, I asked her if she ever saw or heard from Jeff anymore.  She said it had been a long, long time ago when his visits stopped.  I can’t help but wonder if her answer that day set his spirit free.  I also wonder if the reason he used me as a conduit was to validate to his wife that his being there was not a figment of fantasy born out of her refusal to let him go.

Jackie Brown – 5/7/11

The First Annual Afterlife Awareness Conference - notes

            The First Annual Afterlife Awareness Conference was held in Phoenix April 29 through May 1 and I can barely wait for the second one.  As many conferences I've attended, both as a writer and a researcher in most things metaphysical, this one will always be remembered as unique, not only because of the subject but because of the warmth and positive energy of the organizers, the attendees and the staff of the Embassy Suites hotel.  Talk about a love fest! 

            Due to my personal experiences with after death communication, I attended not realizing that, in spite of the name of the conference, (Duh!) workshops would extend beyond ADCs to include near death experiences, mediumship, the impact of grief on our lives, and beyond.  Attendees included members of Compassionate Friends, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the International Association for Near Death Studies and others the names of which I've forgotten. For many of us it meant a great deal to be a part of a group in which we could speak freely about what was happening in our lives.  That in itself was worth the cost of registration.  We came together as strangers and left with new friends, all of them keepers.

Bill Guggenheim,  co-author of Hello from Heaven, was to be the keynote speaker on opening night but had to cancel due to a death in the family.  Regardless, we could feel his energetic support and we sent ours to him in what has to be a difficult time. With speakers like Ann Puryear, PMH Atwater, Herb Puryear, Mark Ireland, Terri Daniel, Louis LaGrand, Rochelle Wright, Craig Hogan, Mitch Carmody, Boyce Batey, Carla Blowey, Julie Beischel, Mark Nelson, the biggest problem for most attendees was deciding which workshops to attend, since two and sometimes three were scheduled at the same time.  Here's the list:

ADCs, Science and Sacred Writings

Mediumship 101

Working in Partnership with Guides, Loved Ones and Others on the Other Side

There Is No Death: The Other Side and Beyond

Practical Uses of the Extraordinary Experiences of the Bereaved

Suicide and the Afterlife – Why do our loved ones kill themselves?

Faces of Grief, Whispers of Love: Surviving the Loss of a Loved One

Beyond the Veil: Evidence for Life After Death

Dream Visits: Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind

A Challenge from Near-Death Studies

Afterlife Research: Ghosts, Mediums, and Other Data from the Death

We Are Never Alone

Centering Corporation handled the sales of books, a guarantee that we left with luggage threatening to cost everyone for the extra weight.

Terri Daniel's Facebook page about the conference will give you a better idea of what a great event it was, especially remarkable since it was the first.  Terri and her volunteers pulled it off, in spades.  I took pictures but as a photographer I stink, big time, so you'll have to rely on those Terri and others have posted on Facebook.

Fair warning: registration for the conference closed in a very short time, the limit for the number of attendees reached far sooner than was anticipated.  Expect the same next year.  If you plan to attend, don't wait!   

Chassie West

Open to Receive

"In a recent poll sponsored by a cable TV station, 25,000 responded.  99% believed in life after death.  70% reported having experienced an after death communication"

~No Reason For Goodbyes: Messages From Beyond Life

Many of the stories in Chassie's book are spontaneous communications that took place directly between people here in the physical world and their loved ones on the other side, without the assistance of a medium.  Often, my own clients wonder why their loved ones "never" visit them or provide evidence of their existence in the afterlife, when in truth, they are likely being visited often and just not paying enough attention!  Because we remain connected by the bonds of love, no medium can possibly have a stronger connection to our loved ones than us.  Each of us, as soul-based beings, has the natural ability to continue a relationship with our loved ones even after physical death. However, because they are now free of the limitations of having a physical body, we need to learn how to communicate with them in a new way.  Following are some tips that may help you in keeping the lines of communication open:

• Pay attention.  Of course, not every dime on the sidewalk is going to be a sign from Aunt Lucy...but don't walk through life with blinders on.  Notice your surroundings, and be objectively observant.  If you find a dime on the bed you just made, the bathtub you just cleaned, the chair you were just sitting in...and were just thinking about Aunt Lucy as you did so, then that dime may be her way of saying "hello!" Also, be open-minded; many people miss the "post-it note" sized signs because they are too busy watching for the huge "billboard". 

• Journal your dreams.  As we sleep our conscious, logical mind takes a back seat to our receptive, intuitive senses.  Therefore, we are psychically "open" in this state and better able to receive messages.  For these reasons, many people find that their loved ones visit as they sleep.  It's a good idea to keep a journal next to your bed and make it a practice to write everything you can remember from each dream as soon as you wake, right down to the tiniest detail.  

• Meditate regularly.  Meditation need not be done sitting atop a mountain chanting "OM" while heavy incense wafts around your head.  Meditation simply means to "be"...be in the moment, in the thought, in the breath.  Make it a practice to take a few moments each day to breathe and allow the mind chatter of the day to drift away while you focus on the breath.  When you are in that state of zen-like calm, it is then that you are at your most "open" and able to receive clearer intuitive messages. 

• Ask.  Our loved ones want to communicate with us as much as we want to hear from them!  Ask (mentally or out loud) your loved one to show you a specific sign.  One author I know asked his deceased father to show him a specific rare mushroom (which had significant meaning to their relationship) to indicate his presence.  After many weeks had gone by, he had all but given up and as he trusted an intuitive message to walk out to his yard, there was the rare mushroom, growing in the soil where it had no logical business being.    

• Have patience. Know that time is an earthly concept.  Not receiving the sign you are asking for immediately does not mean that your loved one doesn't love you or doesn't want to make contact.  Be patient - it'll happen, and often when you least expect it!

A shared farewell

            In putting No Reason for Goodbye contributors' experiences into categories, there were a few I found difficult to peg, for instance, that of Lorraine Peck.  It was certainly an example of contact by the departed, yet very different than most others.  Wouldn't you know that among those I've heard as the result of the book was this one from someone very close to me.  In his words:

"While at work here at the hospital, I was painting a patient room wall. The patient room was adjoined to another patient room with a shared small walkway about 10 ft long. I was concerned that the paint smell would bother the patient in the other room, so asked the head nurse if it was ok to work in the area. She told me go ahead, that the patient was out of it and wouldn’t know anyway. As I walked past the room, I saw some people (about 4) standing around the patient’s bed. The patient from what I could see, was a man and somewhat elderly. I presumed that they were family members and thought little more of it. In being considerate of the patient and family, I resumed painting while trying to be as quiet as possible. A few moments later, the weirdest feeling came over me, one like I have never experienced. I almost dropped my paintbrush when I felt this overwhelming since of relief, as if an emotional weight had been lifted off me. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. The feeling wasn’t a good or bad feeling, but it did fill my spirit. Immediately after, I perceived a presence and a voice speaking to my mind, which said, “Finally I’m Free”. It momentarily took my breath away, because it was so weird, but I shook it off and resumed painting. I then could hear crying coming from the other room. I paused for a moment and felt the need to leave the room. It was about time for my morning break anyway. I stopped by the head nurse's office to let her know that I was leaving, and that I noticed someone crying in the patient room. She told me that it was the patient’s family, because the patient had just passed away. I immediately started to put two and two together.

I’ve carried this thing with me since then. When I hear people saying, “There are no such things as ghosts or the supernatural”, I shake my head. I used to be one of those people, until I was touched by what I perceived, was that man’s spirit or soul passing through me and speaking to me. It was as if, I had been captured by aliens from outer space. I’ll never forget the experience for the rest of my life."

            Whether A.W. had ever spoken of this with anyone else I don't know.  But for him No Reason for Goodbyes opened a door, made him feel free to relate this to me.  So for all the people who wonder why I would tackle a book of this nature, this is the answer.  Would he have ever mentioned it to me otherwise?  I seriously doubt it.  But he did, because of No Reason.  What more could I ask?

Chassie West

Wait for it!

            The impulse to tackle what became No Reason for Goodbyes – Messages from Beyond Life was the direct result of my anger at discovering that 1) I wasn't the only person who had experienced an after death communication; 2) I had never felt free to reveal it; and 3) there were a host of others in my shoes and most had been as closemouthed about it as I'd been.  So my wish in seeing our experiences in print was to help others like us feel free to talk about it or to accept the possibility that it just might have happened to them and they hadn't recognized it for what it was.   There's an old saying: "Be careful what you wish for.  It just might come true."  Well, it has.  And I'm delighted.

            Folks haven't exactly been coming out of the woodwork, but every time I've been asked, "So when can we expect to see your next book?" and I've opened up with the news about No Reason, the first reaction I've gotten has been a look of pure shock, since most know my last several books have been mysteries.  The next reaction has been a puzzled narrowing of the eyes.  I've learned what to do: wait for it.  And sure enough, what follows has been:  "You know, that's funny.  Something happened to me years ago and I've never forgotten it."  From there, they launch into the explanation, clearly uncomfortable but doing it anyway.  And in all but one instance, what they laid out was clearly an ADC.

            The first time was with someone I'd just met who knew nothing about me and I don't even remember how the subject of the book came up.  Her response, however, was as I described above, in her case, a dream.  Her father had died well before any of her children were born and she'd always been sad that he never got to see them.  In her dream, she and her children were in the family room, the kids playing in the middle of the floor.  She glanced up to see her father standing in the doorway of the hall, smiling down at his grandchildren.  Then, without a word he turned, walked back down the hall and disappeared.  She said that had happened years before yet she could still remember how real it had seemed, how well he had looked and the delight she felt at seeing her wish come true.  She extended her arm to show me the goosebumps pebbling her skin just talking about it. 

I explained about the difference between ordinary dreams and lucid dreams and hers certainly qualified as the latter.  She was amazed at the implications and couldn't wait to call her husband and her best friend. And order the book.

She was only the first.  More to come.  Wait for it.

Chassie

Radio appearance: Chassie West to discuss No Reason for Goodbyes on Walking the Path Radio

Author Chassie West will join Dawn Jones and Laura Wooster on Walking the Path this Sunday, March 20, to discuss No Reason For Goodbyes. 


The show begins at 8pm CT/9pm ET on  www.AchieveRadio.com, and they will be taking calls during the show from listeners who would like to share their personal after-death communication experiences on the air.  You may call in to share your story during the live broadcast at 888-235-7374, or send an "In-Quick" (one-way instant message) to the hosts.

Walking the Path Radio
 Focused on the spiritual
 journey & providing
 a supportive voice
 along the way.

How to listen 

Via computer: Visit www.AchieveRadio.com. You may choose from several different media players that are available there. 

Via phone: Call the "listen anywhere" line from any phone: 323-474-0045

Can't listen during this time? No worries, there will be a free podcast available afterward here.