Spiritualism and the Paranormal

I’m currently writing a soon-to-be-released app for Android devices dealing with the I Ching or YiJing . But, the friends whom I’ve talked to are unfamiliar with the YiJing. (I’ll be using YiJing instead of I Ching because YiJing is based on Pinyin , the ISO standard for transliterating Chinese.) Summary The YiJing is a book also known as The Book of Changes , The Classic of Changes or the Zhouyi (“Joe-Yee”). It is one of the oldest Chinese texts and dates from the Shang Dynasty . It contains a system of fortune telling and is primarily used to tell the future. It consists of a collection of comments on, and interpretations of, a set of 64 symbols or hexagrams consisting of six lines. Each line is either “Yin” or “Yang”, represented by broken and solid lines. The YiJing can be consulted by opening a version to a random page and reading the interpretations. But, the more common method is to randomly generate the lines that compose a hexagram. The hexagram is built from the b...

I’ve always wanted to go on a haunted tour. I'd like to see a couple of people get touched my unseen hands, accuse the person next to them of trying to talk to them and what not. When I was in Las Vegas, we had a mind to take the Haunted Vegas Tour , but decided against it as we were having paranormal experiences in our hotel room. But, when I got back, I started asking around for something similar and what I found were tours in Seattle: "The Spooked in Seattle Tour" , which took place in historical Pioneer Square and the “ Market Ghost Tours and Espresso ”, in the Pike Place Market . When I brought this up to Eric he suggested that we bring along a few friends, too. He’d already told his co-worker Sam, who was also interested. I let a few of my friends know, but there were no other takers. So, I was just the three of us: Same, Eric and I.  We talked about each tour decided upon the Spooked in Seattle Tour. We booked the 8:15PM tour. It started at the Ye Olde Curiosity...

I met Toni when I shared a booth with her and another psychic at Northwest Women’s Show at the CenturyLink Event Center (formerly the Qwest Event Center). Ever since then, she and I have kept in contact over the past few years.   Toni Ever since she was a child, Toni has been clairvoyant .  When she was young, she would receive impressions by touching someone or something that they own. For example, when she was about nine-years old, she and her parents were moving out of their apartment in Gardena, CA . At the same time, the new tenants, a husband and wife, were moving in. The man had a treasure chest that he wanted to part with, so he offered it to Toni. When Toni touched the chest as the man was giving it to her, a flurry of images entered her mind. She tried telling the man that he would be dying, but her mother was so embarrassed that she ordered Toni to be quiet and to go inside the car. Sadly her prediction came true - the man died in the apartment within t...

In the early 80s, I lived with my aunt and grandmother on a small, 5 acre berry farm in Port Orchard, Washington . I moved in with them to fulfill a promise that I had made with my late uncle. He asked if I would like to live with my aunt if something were to happen to him. Being a child of three or four I didn’t know what death was, so I agreed. One rainy day he was tending to the berries and caught cold. He died of pneumonia a few weeks later. Living there, I always had an uneasy feeling going to the bottom floor of that split-level house. It was my uncle’s refuge, his “man cave” as they could call it now, where he spent much of his free time in his recliner watching basketball games on his large Zenith TV when he wasn’t tending to the berries. After his death, my aunt had the TV moved up to the living room on the upper floor sometime after I starting living with them. A small jar of Vick's VapoRub One night my aunt and I were watching...

I started watching Celebrity Ghost Stories when its first season aired on the Biography Channel a few years ago. And, since then I have tried to watch each new episode because most have caught my attention in one way or another. The show is a reality-base where celebrities narrate a paranormal event that they had experienced. Celebrities include actors, Corbin Bernsen ( L.A. Law ), Joan Collins ( Dynasty , The Colbys ) and Christopher Knight ( The Brady Bunch );  musicians, Vince Neil ( Motley Crue ), Marilyn Manson ( Marilyn Manson ) and Jermaine Jackson ( Jackson Five );  sports stars, Sugar Ray Leonard (Olympic Boxer); and other personalities, the late Phyllis Diller (Comedienne), Paul Shaffer ( Late Night with David Letterman ) and Margaret Cho (Comedienne). In each hour-long episode, each celebrity segment lasts between 15 to 20 minutes. The only exceptions have been the “Scariest Moments” episode where they show the most frightening scenes from previous episo...

The Iloko version of the post has been moved. Ti bersion ti daytoy a paskil ket naiyakar. Kaso ti Pasahero nga al-alia

The Spanish version has been moved to a new blog. La versión es español se ha movido al nuevo blog. Caso de pasajero espectral

"... The first thing to hit me was the strong scent of vanilla. I commented to Mike about the vanilla scent asking if it were a new car freshener. That's when Mike just came out with it: He had an attachment!" In this story, a friend had a paranormal experience in his early twenties under a bridge known for suicides. Fast forward years later, he wants to experience the same "thrill" of having a paranormal encounter, but this time he makes a serious mistake and the spirit attaches to him. Another Trip to the Bridge Last year, I hosted a small impromptu dinner of a few friends. It was October with Halloween drawing near. Our discussions around the table centered around ideas of what costumes we were going to wear on the 31st, if we were going watch the latest Paranormal Activity movie and the retelling of ghost stories. As usual for this time of year I told the story of the uninvited passenger to my guests, and how it was the closest encounter with the p...

So, this will be my last post to wrap up this series… When I started to think of how to structure my business, I looked at some examples. Eventually, I decided to go with a single member Limited Liability Company or LLC . For some of the following reasons: Liability – My divination business and I are two separate entities. I have to make sure that there is a definite distinction. For example, I must have a separate bank account for the business. When signing documents, I have to specify that I am signing as a representative or executor on behalf of the business. Also, in terms of legalities, my personal assets are not on the table, only assets of the company.   This was my biggest factor. In a worst case scenario, a client interprets my reading in such a way that gets him or her in trouble, so they decide to sue. I'm sure that there are "safeguards" when it comes to this business, such as disclaimers stating that the reading is for "entertainment purposes on...

  Around the time that DM and I were interviewing, I was looking into the business structures that were available. They were: Sole Proprietorship General Partnership Limited Partnership S Corporation C Corporation Limited Liability Company The above a just a few of the business structures available.   Sole Proprietorship As a sole proprietorship, I would be the product. I was responsible for everything. Not only was I the reader, but I was the accountant, the receptionist, the janitor, etc. I had many hats to wear. But, I didn't have to listen to anyone else, or wait for someone else's approval before I did anything. Sounds great! Most small business start out this way because it is relatively inexpensive to get started in Washington State. All you need to do is file for a Master Business Application, wait for it in the mail and you're in business. Depending on where you live you may also need to obtain permits for your locality. Christine Jette, the author of ...

The New Age industry is like any industry - you find great people and great service who genuinely want to help you, and there are those who tell you that your situation is not so good and want you to pay them to removed the spell, vex or curse that's impeding your happiness. Unfortunately, notoriety of outfits such as "Psychic Surgeons" and the infamous Miss Cleo, just don't make us who work in this industry look any better. I don't ever think that the media has run a story involving how psychics help police solve cold cases. Today, I want to focus on how I was had by a true charlatan… There were several things that I should have taken into account that the woman was not genuine. These lessons I want to pass on to you. I had always driven by a big neon sign on one of the major roads in north Seattle that advertised a psychic and palm reader. But, I never had the curiosity to investigate, nor did I ever bother to look into the business.  Looking back, I no...

At a party a few months ago, I met up with a fellow diviner. It all began when we were all sitting at my friends Jason and Peter's dining table. We started talking about what we were doing, or planning on doing with our lives. My fellow diviner, Denise, mentioned a few projects that she had in mind… and she mentioned that she was thinking about taking her Rune reading pro. At that moment, the old thought came back, "Is this a sign that I should start working on getting a Tarot business up and running?" I had done a lot of research. I, with my former partners, called around for what divinatory services that others offered, how much they charged, etc. But, all that information was just sitting there… somewhere. "Maybe, I should dig it all up?" I asked myself later. I mentioned to Denise at the party that I knew of a book that dealt with that particular subject. Although Professional Tarot  (ISBN: 0-7387-0217-X) by Christine Jette is specific to Tarot card r...

I've been using Tarot Cards for 20 or so years. Just lately, I've decided to go professional. The idea of going professional started about two years ago. I met Yvette through my other friend Tina. Tina worked at a local casino in the Seattle/Shoreline area. It was there that she met Yvette. After getting to know each other, they found that they shared a common interest in Spirituality and other New Age topics. Yvette had started to dabble in using the Tarot and told Tina about it. Tina and I didn't know each other that well at the time, eventually the same topic of Tarot cards came up and I started to teach Tina how to read the cards. Tina introduced me to Yvette and soon a "partnership" of sorts started to form. Yvette had the idea of opening up a business. Tina and I thought that it would be a great idea as well. We found the book Professional Tarot by Christine Jette and began reading. All the while, I started to take a look into the legalities and o...