Astrological Signs: My Favorite Things

Aries- Sensitive. Unconditional love when they trust you. Ram against things until they succeed.

Taurus- Sweet. Bold when sure of themselves. Want their opinions heard by those who love them.

Gemini- They know they have two selves. When they hone in on a person, they connect fully.

Cancer- Watery. Flirty. Artistic. Takes ten years to make a decision.

Leo- A great go-to when you don’t want to be in charge. They sleep and then work hard.

Virgo- Easy going but can’t be pushed. Not concerned about other people’s perceptions. They have their own.

Libra- Helpful when looking at both sides of any issue. Not dependent on others.

Scorpio- A mystery that won’t be solved. Darkness is good.

Sagittarius­- Doesn’t like to be crowded. Easily wounded but you’d never know unless you’re close to them.

Capricorn- Don’t worry about this one borrowing money, they have their own. Fair. Solid. Aquarius-Trusts only a few. Efficient. Self-contained. Fun when you get to know them.

Pisces- Intuitive. Pliable with a mind of their own. Artsy.

I Don't Believe in That Stuff

Way too often, people tell me they don’t believe in what I do. I’m never sure what part they mean. Is it they don’t believe I help solve murder cases, and if so, who’s lying about that, me or the police? Or do they mean they don’t believe in intuition? Or they don’t believe in anything paranormal?

When my piano students get to high school, they usually ask questions about me and what I do besides teach. This week when I told one young woman about my psychic work, she said she doesn’t believe. Puzzled, I later asked a devout Roman Catholic mother if people tell her they don’t believe in her religion. Not often, she said, but more so in the past. She agreed with me that with varied belief systems, respect is the key.

I never know if my psychic ability is classified as a belief. It’s just with me and has always been a part of me. My acceptance of this uncanny ability is complete.

We can’t and shouldn’t undo ways in which we help each other. Life is connection, sometimes unpleasant, but most of the time, lovely. Let’s just accept each other and be kind.

When the Dead Are With You

Many people tell me they believe their dead loved ones are still with them. They draw comfort from their presence, and almost see their loved ones right there beside them.

Spirits, or ghosts, have been around for a very long time. In movies and stories, they’ve been perceived as something to be feared. I don’t believe that’s a good representation. I like the line from the song, Ghostbusters. I ain’t afraid of no ghost.

At the four piano and voice recitals I hosted this month, my grandfather, Homer, was in attendance at two of them. He’s been dead for forty years, so I’m not sure why he showed up. It could be that he thought I needed his support.

Spirits come to me as I work on murder cases, when their movements provide me with information. In my life outside of that work, I see ghosts now and then. When I do, they’re nebulous and wavy, and sometimes morph in and out of looking like a real, live person. More often than not, it isn’t someone I know. 

If you have an interest in feeling or seeing spirits, or if you want to hear from your dead loved ones, you have to open that door. When you do hear your loved one’s voice, it might feel like a memory, but it’s often accompanied by a message from the person who has passed. Maybe you’ll feel strange or eerie, but you can do this. You don’t need me to connect with your loved ones who have died. With energy and concentration, you can listen and hear, and maybe even see for yourself.

Music's Path to Emotions

We all time travel through the use of music. When I hear the Temptations, I’m in high school. Elvis evokes my Uncle Fred, who slicked his hair back just like him. Any 80s music makes me think of my daughter, and the 90s, my son. I have songs that bring memories of old friends and past boyfriends. When my voice students sing Oh What a Beautiful Morning, I’m riding the horse I used to own.

Opera transports me to my vocal concerts at Penn State. With jazz, I’m singing Summertime in the dark bar where I played during my brief foray as a single act. Joan Jett? I’m practicing with my all-girl band, Susie Creamcheese, that never got off the ground.

You listen to music and you’re lost in time and space. A forgotten song evokes tears, joy, or the memory of a long dead relative.

Use music to lighten your load, to laugh and love. Use it to bring peace to your wounded soul. Make it yourself, or listen to records. Music never disappoints. It always evokes a mood and a path. Treat yourself. It’s free. 

Go for the Goosebumps

When I do readings for clients, I know I’m on the right track when I get the goose bump skin that comes from emotional stimulus. When I teach voice lessons, I stress accurate pitch, and then I discuss how important it is to make the audience feel something. I tell them, give yourself goose bumps and the audience will get them too.

Some people are more prone to emotional chills than others. There is some scientific evidence that your personality can affect how often you get the chills. A 2007 paper published in the journal Motivation and Emotion found openness to experience, which is someone who is game to try new foods, adventures and different ideas, was a marker of getting the chills more frequently.

According to Matthew Sachs, a researcher at the University of Southern California who conducted a 2017 study, people who get the chills seem to have an enhanced ability to experience intense emotions. Sachs’ research, which was published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, indicated that those who experience a strong emotional response to music and then get chills may do so because their brains are wired differently.

Those who are very rigid and structured, as well as less curious and imaginative, and anyone blocked by trauma, depression, anxiety and mental struggles, likely won’t experience this dopamine rush and the subsequent chills as frequently.

I do believe it’s a good idea that when you get the chills, you pay attention. Something real is happening.

The Arts: Portals to Intuition

The arts act as portals into intuition throughout the year. At holidays, they sneak into gift choices and pleasant activities. 

When I was a child, Santa brought me books. Except for two gifts, the baby doll that 34 years later looked like my son, and my favorite Betty Crocker Junior Baking Kit, books were my best presents. Stories meant I could lose myself in the past or the future. That letting go spurred me to move outside my body into other realms, to help me perform music and work on murder cases with police. 

In school, I was a poor artist who couldn’t relax, but as I practiced piano, I could pretend to waltz in a white French wig, or come alive in the hills of Germany with the Sound of Music.

Now, when I prepare for my psychic work, I use music as a portal. You know how music transports you to other feelings and places? That’s what I use, that floating ability to let go of the here and now, to carry my brain away from the confines of exactness.

At the holidays, I use intuition and insight when I choose a gift for a loved one, and when I sing songs or tell old stories. Every year, my perception is altered by the people around me and my own unique mind set.

At the end of this year, let us bring love and intuition to the forefront. As they said in the 1960s, hang a little bit loose and stay groovy.

Children and the Paranormal

One sunny afternoon, as I did readings at a Renaissance Fair, a woman sat down and leaned in close. She said, my children are special but I want you to tell me if I’m wrong. Look at their palms.

With at least one hundred hours of study, I felt ready to do palm interpretations and condense everything I learned into their five minute session. That day, those beautiful, odd but bedraggled boy and girl opened their palms to me and I saw what she meant. Their palms were covered with stars. Big stars, little stars, perfect stars, misshapen stars. I felt such shock.

Stars on the palm represent fame, success, the ability to deal with challenges, and exceptional creative abilities. Those children, with dark hair and light eyes that bore into my soul, knew and accepted that they were unusual.

Children know. They learn quickly and they try to please us, but each child knows early in life who they are and who they want to be. Look at your sister and brother, if you have one, or an early childhood friend. Other than maturity, aren’t they the same as they were as a child, with unchanged strengths and weaknesses?

A paranormal child is not scientifically explainable. Any child’s behavior can’t be explained, as their funny word usage and quirky behavior delight us. Without the knowledge of classes and maturity, how a child hones intellect is nothing short of a miracle.

Take a page from a child’s book. Look at the world with thankful wonder, and believe that you know, because you do.