My Unexpected Path of Spiritual Discovery

Article 15 in the Continuing Series

On these tapes are recorded the interviews and 'audio journal' entries documenting my research trip to Oklahoma to investigate a 'talking poltergeist' case.

Between September 18 and November 17, 1995, I kept a written journal to chronicle some of my experiences and introspection while considering the evidence of the ongoing 'paranormal initiation.'  I also continued what I called my 'audio journal' on microcassettes with transcripts of these tapes presented in the case study Testament.  One should keep in mind that at the time of recording I realized the need of keeping an account of what was happening; therefore, at times some of my circumstances may have been articulated in a somewhat supercilious manner.

This series of blog articles provides a concise description of some of the meaningful occurrences during this period.  I previously wasn't keeping a detailed record of the eventful hours and days upon returning from my research expedition to Oklahoma as I hadn't been expecting such an unpredictable turn of events.  As paranormal phenomena was continuing to manifest around me, what formerly had been estimated to be a haunting of a specific geographical area became something very different.  The annals of paranormal phenomena offer case studies of how the unseen 'guides' as aspects of an interacting spiritual Force have manifested throughout the ages, from the Oracle at Delphi and ectoplasmic materialized people and 'apports' of Spiritualism to the authentic flying saucer contactees and contemporary psychic mediums and channelers of the current day.

Following the most eventful weeks of my life (1, 2, 3), when I went to meet Judith for my first session of psychotherapy on Wednesday, August 30 as had been arranged while I was at the hospital, I noticed a shiny penny on the floor near the elevator in the Westwood high-rise as I made my way to her penthouse office.  This penny synchronicity would become an encouraging symbol that still continues 24 years later.  I would later learn that my psychiatrist had been recommended for me because she was a prominent psychic.  Her office building was located just down the street from where my brother was working at a publicity firm.  In the outer room, while waiting one could read a poster of the poem “Desiderata” or choose from a selection of magazines.  “Desiderata” expresses such sentiments as “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste” and “You are a child of the universe,” thus setting an appropriate tone for each visit.  (I would later arrange with estate representative Robert L. Bell to include the Max Ehrmann poem in Testament.)

I found Judith to be a charming and somber presence while often displaying a tender smile.  Her job as my therapist was to correct my way of thinking when my contrary motivation was to explain, somewhat guardedly, the basis for my interpretations of my unusual experiences that I recently had been trying to place in perspective.  In addition to psychotherapy, my short-term goal was getting into better physical shape so I became a fitness club member at the Bally's in Hollywood'  Upon beginning to investigate volunteering opportunities, I signed up for an orientation meeting at AIDS Project Los Angeles.  I would eventually decide to enroll in the preparatory class training volunteers as telephone ‘listeners’ for the Southern California HIV/AIDS Hotline.  After not having shaved for five days, I also decided to begin growing a beard.

After several days staying with my brother at his Los Feliz area house overlooking Hyperion Avenue in Los Angeles (that I later discovered wasn't far from where flying saucer contactee Orfeo Angelucci had once resided), I felt ready to return to my condo and resume my life.  Something that really unnerved me was how psychiatric hospital representatives had lied to me about my circumstances during the 'intervention' resulting from my brother and friends' concerns about me.  What clearer example can there be of how important it is to always be truthful.  In Christian eschatology, the Devil is the metaphorical 'father of all lies.'  Lying is one of the cardinal sins along with lust and murder.

Looking back at that September in 1995, thus began a period in my life when I had two psychotherapy sessions a week in Century City lasting approximately an hour each.  I also went to the gym in Hollywood three times a week, working with Doug, a personal trainer who helped me to develop an exercise routine.  I especially remember one early experience at the gym when I decided to try the jacuzzi and overheard a woman telling her friend about someone who was their mutual acquaintance.  What became startling to me was that the things I heard her say sounded precisely like commentary that applied to my own life.  This made me wonder if my omnipresent unseen guide 'Michael' was at work again in one of his many psychic ways to suddenly give me another blunt estimation of where we were in the immediate course of our rather intimate and eventful little relationship.  Once during this period I turned on a radio music station at the exact moment a Neil Diamond song was starting and there was heard, “Hello again, hello . . .”
 
When I began listening to the Centrahoma interview recordings, there were sounds and voices audible on the interview microcassettes that hadn’t been heard among interview participants in Centrahoma when the tapes were recorded.  As I worked at transcribing the tapes by playing them on the same small machine I’d used to record them, I wondered how it could be conceivable for there to be spirit utterances heard on the microcassettes.  This jolting recognition first came to me as I was listening to the third tape I’d recorded in the Mc Wethy house.  A succession of prominent and unmistakable words were audible in voices that were more stilted and emphatic than the usual human timbre of any of the interview participants.  These blatant spirit messages included “SOUNDS GOOD” and “NICE” — the messages seemed to be commenting on my discovery of this audio phenomena.  I’d never let the tapes out of my sight so I knew there couldn’t be any hoax involved.  I realized it was essential to find a way of listening to the tapes so that the contents were as distinct as possible.  When I went back and again listened to the preceding recordings, I was able to notice more 'spirit messages.'  At the time I wrote Testament, I knew nothing about the annals of Electronic Voice Phenomena and Instrumental Transcommunication.

I eventually also listened to some of my movie industry interviews and also found an array of EVP.  If one doesn't know that these messages can exist in all unedited audio and video recordings, one cannot recognize these forms of transcendental communication.  I included one example of my movie publicist interviews in Testament with a transcript of a telephone conversation with Neil Jordan, director of a comedy about two escaped convicts mistaken to be a pair of priests in a town famous for a miraculous local shrine.  In the scene below, the two hoods continue to find their lives complicated by Bob, the desperate killer who'd involved them in the prison breakout.  (This film clip is another example of my pop culture 'programming' in 1995.)
 
 

Setting out to determine what opportunities were available for the clearest listening of the interviews and spirit utterances on the microcassettes, I decided to contact a local company called Group IV Recording and see what information regarding this matter was available.  My call went through to a sales representative who answered, “This is Angel.”  We talked a bit and he referred me to another company. I gradually realized the most reasonable alternative was to purchase high quality Dictaphone transcribing equipment that utilized a pedal and headphones.  As I've previously written:

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: I ATTEMPTED TO TRANSCRIBE THE MICROCASSETTES AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.  TAPES FROM THE FIRST DAY OF INTERVIEWS WERE TRANSCRIBED IN THREE DRAFTS.  THE SPIRIT VOICES HEARD ON THE TAPES HAVE AN EXTRAORDINARY RANGE, ENCOMPASSING YOUNG AND OLD VOICES OF BOTH SEXES AS WELL AS DIALECTS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES. SOME SPIRIT MESSAGES AND UNATTRIBUTED SOUNDS WERE OVERLAPPING.  SOME MESSAGES COULD NOT BE DISTINGUISHED AND SOME MAY HAVE GONE UNNOTICED.  OTHERS MAY HAVE BEEN MISINTERPRETED.  THE SPIRIT COMMENTS APPEAR IN CAPITAL LETTERS AND IN PARENTHESES.  WHERE THE OKLAHOMA FAMILY IS CONCERNED, SOME ATTRIBUTIONS MAY BE INCORRECT.  FOLLOWING TRANSCRIPTION NOTES APPEAR IN PARENTHESES.

I received my new Dictaphone transcribing machine on September 21.  On my first draft of the transcripts I noted where on the tape could be heard what sounded like “whispering,” “weird noises,” “weird moans,” “spirit giggling,” and spirit comments such as “YES,” “WASN’T ME” and “I WOULD.”  The extent of the EVP phenomena becomes clear upon reading the Testament transcripts.  One memorable instance of EVP indicated that my bloodlines can be traced back to "Jesus" and "Moses."

I experienced another type of unexpected spirit communication.  While transcribing, I found words on the computer monitor’s screen that I hadn’t myself typed:

Are you nervous?

One night after working for several hours on transcribing, I decided to take a break and watch TV for a few minutes while I ate a snack.  One of the shows I regularly watched was on, MTV’s “The Real World,” although I’d missed the start of the show.  I’d seen the previous episodes of this documentary-style series that brought together a group of youths as roommates, this year in a city of great appeal for me, London.  I started to watch and I realized that one of the roommates was complaining that their telephone had suddenly stopped functioning and he commented about how frustrating he found the situation.  My TV set then went off.  In Centrahoma, Twyla had told me about the battery of the video camera going dead as the rock had struck the car.  In my own life, displays of the miraculous aspects for technological discoveries and functionality was continuously part of my ongoing paranormal initiation.   

'Michael' had made Himself clear that I had more important things to do than watching television.  He apparently wanted me to work on the case study of my recent experiences.

Here are several notes relating to this phenomena of my TV suddenly coming on for a few moments and then going off as noted in my 'written journal':

September 22:

TV clips included Colin Powell, a reference to "deadlines," and a hair [product] commercial ended on the word "revitalized."


"Love is the only religion."  [commercial]

September 24

This morning at 6:52 "Topper" [one of the old black and white movie series] came on the TV — the oranges scene — [with dialogue] "Now I know why you had me put away in the hospital" — ending with "Oh you'll never get out of this one."  I had gotten up early because I woke up early . . .

September 30

[thinking this would be something educational]  I watched a little bit of Christopher Reeve's interview by Barbara Walters and then my TV went off.

[This was after the actor's paralysis.  As the program began, an opening clip from the interview showed the actor commenting “Something wonderful is about to happen” and then the TV turned off.  I accepted that it should be left off but would allow an occasional exception to this policy and always the result would be the same with the television soon shutting off.  On New Year's Day my TV set came on to show a Rose Parade float with an environmental theme and then went back off.]

Once as I worked to transcribe the interview cassettes, I found another message that I didn’t type myself.

I’ll help you.

I felt that the intimacy with 'Michael' wasn’t something new; it was only my awareness of Him that was new.  It seemed ironic that as I listened to the tapes, the sounds and conversation seemed comparable to a movie soundtrack.  In one way, we are each living a movie, I estimated.  Extraordinary little thought-provoking things were constantly happening in my life.  There were also instances in the middle of the night when I heard strange music outside comparable to a flute or recorder, which was an occurrence I remember reading about in one of the books about the 19th Century 'Bell Witch' talking poltergeist case.

There were some telephone experiences that were very odd.  At first I thought the explanation could be some kind of crossed line.  There were also Japanese radio broadcasts being heard at times.  Once when I was having a telephone conversation (Tape #19, Side #1) it sounded like some unknown person picked up an off-the-hook receiver and expressed surprise by saying "Shit!" and then didn't hang up.  I was again startled when I was having lunch with Marie at a restaurant and when I returned to my car it looked like someone had tampered with the dashboard yet without any sign of a break-in.  Thinking about this predicament, I wondered if some clandestine government agency was keeping track of visitors to the Centrahoma house, where the family was talking about interacting with invisible aliens and the mysterious all-knowing 'Michael.'  I also realized that I'd made some unusual telephone calls upon discovering myself to be a 'Christed one' although I didn't keep any written record of these calls.  I do remember having telephone conversations with some of my Paramount studio coworkers. 

One of the friends I called was Larry.  I'd selected him when an additional publicity writer position at Paramount had been approved and he later was laid off at the same time as me.  He become a unit publicist while I became an independent contractor to the publicity department, working from an office in my home.  Like Marie, Larry once had been an aspiring singer and I’d been astonished by the resonance of his voice when I heard one of his song tapes.  Larry had grown up in Oklahoma and once mentioned that his late father had worked in some secret military capacity within Oklahoma that he’d never been able to discuss even with his immediate family.  I’d always suspected his work probably involved unidentified flying objects but now when I called Larry and asked him if he’d ever heard anything about Coalgate in connection with UFOs, I found that he still couldn’t tell me anything regarding the matter.   I later learned that a previous acquaintance from my entertainment industry years was in a similar predicament, Jan Chamberlin Rooney (Mickey's wife).  (Jan Rooney interview transcript)

When I spoke to my mother about my realization of somehow being a reincarnation of the biblical Jesus after noticing all the Christian symbolism in my life, she commented, “Well, if you’re the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, then that makes me the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary.”

After years of this level of interaction, I became a little impatient.  I remarked to Ellen that she was the reincarnation of a wicked witch.  Based upon what I knew about witches and what I knew about my mother, this seemed a distinct possibility.  Once Ellen had asked to read one of my books about historical metaphysical philosophy so I provided her with one.  She later confided in me that she used the book to cast what she called “a maleficium” on an abrasive hospital administrator.  Unfortunately, Ellen’s attempt to use witchcraft was a failure as nothing noticeably 'bad' happened to her intended victim.  Ellen would've made better use of her time by focusing on alleviating her own gout symptoms.  It would've been useful for her to understand the guidance possible for her through becoming aware of having a personal guide or guardian angel participating in her life.  Apparently all guides inhabit our world and the ascended realm simultaneously and seem to be able to communicate through three main ways:

(1) psychic mediumship (a mainstream media YouTube video example is provided at the end of this article)

(2) through positive, intelligent and sensible suggestions finding expression after originating from the subconscious minds of one's friends and family members

(3) one's acceptance of all benevolent and altruistic thoughts that come from one's conscience that makes manifest the divine spark within us

I remember once my brother returned my call after leaving his office and this was the first time I'd told him about the possibility of reincarnation in relation to Jesus.  I wanted him to come over right away so he could discuss this with me and help me figure out what to do about all this.

"I can’t,” he replied.  “I’m late for a dinner party.  Business.”

One of the things I expressed to Mike at the time was that I didn’t yet understand what this all meant.

"Judgment Day," he answered.  I had learned to pay attention to people’s spontaneous expressions of thoughts from their subconscious at this time, to say the least.

I said, "Oh my God, Judgment Day — that's a big job."  As I said Judgment Day, both of my disposable contact lenses suddenly dropped out of my eyes.

"Judgment Day?” Mike said. “Who told you that?"

I replied, "You just did."  So instead of coming over after hearing the big news, Mike went off to his entertainment industry party. 

Wanting to gather as much information as I could about my ancestry, I referred to the Pacific Bell Telephone Company yellow pages and contacted Carol and Steven Andersen, a Mormon couple who were family history specialists.  I made an appointment for a preliminary consultation so I could provide the necessary background information to get them started on building and confirming lineages within my family tree.  When I mentioned also having an interest in the Bell lineage, I discovered that Steven’s own family tree included the Bells.  My own pedigree chart would include the known lineages Allen, Berkley, Burnham, Burgess, Crandall, Dorchester, Franklin, Gibbons, Hildreth, Hitchcock/Hiscockes, Parker, Pengry, Perry, Rowe, Sutton, Swift, Wainwright, Warren, Williams, and Willie.  One lineage that was not traceable was my maternal grandfather’s lineage.  Little is known for certain about William King.  One relative thought he might have immigrated from Germany and perhaps originally been named William Von King.

Centrahoma family members occasionally called me as I’d suggested.  I’d left a cassette recorder with the family and the mother, Maxine, once informed me that they’d recorded a man’s voice going “Ahhhhhh” in the bedroom, something similar to what I was experiencing listening to the interview tapes.  I related some of my experiences and impressions since returning home.  “Michael is an Angel . . . He seems to be speaking through various people’s subconscious . . .”  Eventually I would discover what I call 'The Michael Pattern' linking transcendental communication cases.  The Archangel Michael is the archetype for an angelic Force interacting with mankind throughout the ages.

One morning, I considered visiting the Central Library downtown to see if there was any information archived there that could be found about my ancestry as I knew that the library had an extensive Genealogy Collection.  I was returning home from an errand and began considering postponing the library trip; however, upon attempting to unlock the outer iron-grilled security door of my condo, it was proving difficult to turn the key in the lock.  It seemed apparent that Michael was indicating this was the appropriate time for me to visit the library.

I discovered an 1833 book entitled Historical Memoirs of the First Race of Ancestry, Whence the House of Russell Had Its Origin: From the Subjugation of Norway to the Norman Conquest by J. H. Wiffen, M.R.S.L., Corresponding Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy.
  
Eighteen generations distant from Olaf the Sharp-eyed is Hugh Bertrand, born circa 1021, Lord of Barneville and Le Rozel.  Wiffen found earliest evidence of the Du Rozel surname on a monastic charter of the Countess Matilda executed on July 14, 1066 and witnessed by Hugh Du Rozel.

On September 23, I participated in a diversity training workshop for new volunteers at APLA.  I felt I had a lot in common with the workshop’s facilitator, who admitted himself proud of his middle class values.  He asked for attendees to call out “ouch” if they heard anything during the session that could be considered as disturbing in some way.  As it turned out, I was the only one who made such a declaration during the presentation and it was because the facilitator mentioned in passing that people were innately evil.  I don’t think it was something he’d planned to say but it just slipped out and I thought it was important to call his attention to the matter.  I feel that people are basically good-hearted — ignorance and greed are the causes for some of the terrible things that happen.  Interpretations of power as relating to material wealth and positions of authority have nothing to do with the true meaning of ‘power’ — the ability to accomplish good works for other members of our entire human and animal family.

The cosmos are vast beyond one's wildest imagination as shown below by this Hubble Telescope photos mosaic.

 

Each one of us seems so insignificant when considering the vastness of the universe yet within each one of us is a limitless Love than may find manifestation.  One must never mistake beliefs as knowledge or evidence of knowledge as merely indicating belief.  On the same Saturday as the APLA workshop, an intriguing article was published on page A13 of the Los Angeles Times that revealed how testimonials of miraculous events for one segment of humanity could be immediately discounted as delusion or hoax by people living in another part of the world.  This is the first portion of the article.

‘Miracle’ Awes Hindus Worldwide

◼India: Many believe milk-drinking statues are an act of God.  Others accuse controversial guru of orchestrating hoax.

By John-Thor Dahlburg
TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEW DELHI—Indians by the millions rushed to see, and believed.

Rumors began spreading with astounding speed throughout India and Hindu communities from Nepal to Britain—and even Los Angeles—on Thursday that the statues of Hindu gods were drinking milk dispensed from spoons.

“God has come down to gauge us, to see how many followers He has and to serve a warning upon us that He exists,” said Nagababa Ujjain Giri, chief priest at the Shiva Temple in the New Delhi neighborhood of Chanakyapuri.

In enormous throngs, Indians rushed to temple in New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras and other cities to offer milk to statues of the elephant headed Ganesha, the deity of good luck, and his parents, Shiva, the mighty god of creation and destruction, and Shiva’s consort, Parvati.

Milk virtually disappeared from New Delhi shops by noon.  The local government increased the city’s milk supply by 25,000 gallons as prices rose as much as fourfold.

The outpouring of faith cut across caste and education.  “At first, I did not believe it. But having come here and offered milk, I have no doubts left,” a corporate executive, Parmesh Soti, told an Indian news agency in New Delhi.   “It cannot be a hoax.   Where would all that milk being offered go?”

In neighboring Nepal, thousands of people thronged Hindu temples.  Even King Birendra, who is held to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu, turned out.  In London, a statue of Shiva’s bull, Nandi, at a temple reportedly began to quaff milk.

Scientists dismissed the idea that anything supernatural was happening . . .

The article stated, “The craze subsided on Friday as quickly as it had erupted.  At Giri’s temple in Chanakyapuri, thousands of people had dispensed 50 gallons of milk on Thursday to small white marble statues; by 8:30 a.m. Friday, another 50 people had come, but the numbers dwindled rapidly.”

At this time I was a subscriber of Los Angeles Times and perused the newspaper each day.  I was especially interested in new scientific discoveries and developments although often scientists seemed to interpret their findings under the assumption that such a Being as God didn’t exist instead of realizing that perhaps the existing concepts of God were inadequate.

My experiences indicated that a human being’s ‘genius’ is an illusion as each person is guided through interaction with a spiritual source of limitless knowledge, resulting with each of us having the potential to make discoveries that in turn enable us to contribute something useful to the larger society.  The complexity of the Guidance was discernible as I comprehended that the recent events in my life could be usefully juxtaposed with the previous mysteries and metaphors among 39 years of what I formerly believed was a haphazard day-to-day existence.

One afternoon, I decided to return something I’d borrowed from Mike and then stop by the nearby Mayfair Market on Hyperion Avenue to pick up a few items.  Driving west down Temple Street, I turned right on Hoover to take a little-known shortcut to the Silver Lake area.  I soon noticed a vehicle behind mine that had two men in it with short hair, suits and dark glasses.  I didn’t recognize the make or model of the car but it was an unusual new model.  It amused me that the men looked exactly how I might’ve expected ‘men in black’ to appear but didn't think such a thing could be possible.

Passing Santa Monica Boulevard, I decided to accelerate so I could make sure the two men weren’t following me.  I kept my eye on the car as I sped forward at a normally unthinkable pace yet I was highly familiar with the area.  The vehicle also accelerated and the men were visibly agitated.  This can’t be happening to me, I thought.  Turning right at Franklin Avenue, I maneuvered my car into the fast lane and saw that the vehicle remained in the other lane although still keeping pace with my car.  I expected that I would be able to elude them as I prepared to make an abrupt left turn at the southern end of Lyric Avenue.  I didn’t slow down or start signaling so I knew that they would be caught off-guard and be forced to keep going as I made the turn.

My evasive action didn’t come off as I’d hoped.  Due to oncoming traffic, I was forced to jam on the breaks and put on my turn signal.  My mouth dropped open as the other vehicle’s breaks screeched and the men skidded to a stop beside my car in the intersection.  Although I was shocked by the blatancy of the response, I didn’t want them to know my suspicions were confirmed so I took out a hairbrush from my Land’s End bag and began straightening my hair to be nonchalant.  I was further surprised as this provoked startled reactions when they’d been so calm before.  In close proximity, my first impression proved correct — they resembled military types with muscular builds.  One man was black and the other was white.  When there was no more oncoming traffic, I turned onto Lyric and quickly reached my brother’s house.  I decided to keep a disinterested appearance and couldn’t imagine what to say to them if there was a confrontation.  I dropped off the borrowed item and decided to follow my planned itinerary.  Continuing on my way to the store, I didn’t notice anyone following me and hoped that the strange interlude was over as I kept trying to convince myself that maybe somehow I’d misinterpreted things.  Maybe they were some kind of undercover traffic cops, I told myself.

I calmly parked at the Mayfair Market and proceeded to purchase the few groceries I needed.  When I went to the cash register with the shortest line, I suddenly noticed a heavy package of firewood near the counter.  Then, I saw one of the two men who’d been following me quickly enter the store — the black one.  He spotted me watching him, paused and then went to a telephone and pretended to make a telephone call although he never dialed any number.  A store employee than began asking loudly with a perturbed tone of voice, “Whose firewood is this over here?”  It looked too heavy for one person to lift.  He emphatically repeated the question but didn’t receive any response.  It seemed apparent that Michael had materialized the firewood upon the floor as one of his emphatic little metaphors.  I paid for my purchases and continued behaving nonchalant as I went to my car.

I felt relieved that my ‘men in black’ didn’t approach me, nor did I notice if they continued following me, but I had to acknowledge that it couldn’t be denied that someone or some government organization might be investigating me.  As 2020 begins, I’m certainly making it easy for everyone to know everything there is to know about my life with these autobiographical blog articles.

 

Prior to becoming a metaphysical author, I was a movie publicity writer for Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.
Below is a mainstream media video clip example of psychic mediumship.