Keith Richardson is an ordained minister in the Church of Religious Science and holds a masters degree in anthropology from California State University at Los Angeles. He currently lectures at churches, universities, and spiritual seminars throughout the United States and Japan. He lives in Ventura, California.

CHAPTER 1

Meeting Chang

I am a trained scientist with a master's degree in cultural anthropology. I haveconducted field research in Latin America and Asia. I have published articles inprofessional journals and spoken at national anthropological conferences.

For over a decade, my wife Francesca and I have owned and operated an angel-themedgift shop in Ventura, California, called Things From Heaven. Working inthis store, I have documented many amazing spiritual events. These includevisions of angels, spontaneous healings, and conversations with lost loved oneson the other side. I have published three books documenting these phenomena.

The most amazing and life-changing experiences I have had, however, occurred dueto what appeared to be an accidental contact with a spiritual guide named Chang.This book documents the revelations I have received from this highly evolvedspiritual entity.

* A Guided Meditation by John Edward

In January of 2001, I purchased what I thought was a book on tape, calledUnderstanding Your Angels and Meeting Your Guides by psychic John Edward. JohnEdward was very popular at the time with national daytime and evening talkshows. His concept of communicating with people's deceased loved ones usingparticipants from a television studio audience was a new and exciting conceptthat had everyone talking about heaven again. I thought it would be good tolearn more about Mr. Edward's opinions about angels so I could better discussthem with people who visited my store.

Francesca and I always go to a gift show at the Los Angeles Convention Center inmid-January, and I thought it would be interesting to listen to this tape whilewe drove to the gift show. I waited until we got on the freeway to put the tapein our car's player, and then I heard something that really disappointed me. Thevoice on the tape said, "Please don't listen to this tape while driving yourcar. This is a guided meditation."

At first I was furious. I had purchased this tape with the single intent oflistening to it on our way to Los Angeles.

I felt I had wasted my money and considered returning the tape for a refund. Iangrily ejected the tape from the player and threw it on the floor in the backof my car. It sat there for the next month.

On a Tuesday in mid-February of 2001, Francesca and I had the day off withnothing important to do. I suggested that we try to listen to the guidedmeditation by John Edward. I found it still lying on the floor of my car where Ihad thrown it. We turned off all the lights, unplugged the telephone, and sat onour couch. I figured I would get my money's worth out of this tape yet.

The tape started out with a discussion of chakras. I was immediately frustrated,as I was only really interested in what John Edward had to say about angels. Andthen he said something that concerned me even more. Communicating with yourangels was not that important, he declared, which was why his meditation wasabout "spirit guides" instead.

"Spirit guides? I don't even believe in spirit guides. This tape really isstupid. I have wasted my money and now I'm wasting my time," I thought tomyself.

Despite my concerns, I grudgingly decided to do the meditation anyway. JohnEdward first led me to meet my "spirit animal." To my surprise, an animal didcome to meet me. It was my dog Shauna, who had died three years before. At firstI was really happy to see my little dog in such good shape as she ran to meetme. Then I thought to myself, "This is stupid. Of course I'm going to see mydog. It's all just wishful thinking. There's nothing real about this vision atall."

John Edward's voice led me to follow my dog down a beautiful wooded path, past abubbling spring, and finally into a clearing covered with bright green grass. Inthe middle of this clearing was a small wooden cabin. I followed my dog to thedoor of the cabin. At this point she left me and went frolicking through thegrass and disappeared back into the forest.

John Edward directed me to knock on the door of the cabin. He said that I wouldmeet my spirit guide when the door opened.

"Why am I doing this?" I asked myself. "I don't believe in this sort of thing.It's the stuff that crazy people tell you about. Yeah, everyone has this reallycool Native American spirit guide that gives them messages. People should learnto accept responsibility for their own actions. They should learn to think forthemselves and not have to rely on silly invisible friends like spirit guides."

But I had gone too far now to turn back, so I knocked at the door of the cabinand shortly thereafter it began to slowly open. As I looked at the personstanding in the doorway, I was stunned. It was not who I had expected at all. Itwas a tall, thin-faced Asian man who appeared to be in his late fifties or earlysixties, and looked a little like the mythical character Fu Manchu.

He had a long, thin mustache that hung down each side of his mouth, he had agoatee on his chin, and his head was bald with the exception of a long ponytail.He wore a strange double-decker hat that had a blue brim with a yellow bandaround it. The upper portion was red, topped by a large gold pointed spike. Hewore a yellow robe with dragons embroidered on it. He clasped his hands togetherand politely bowed to me.

I was shocked. "I must be eating too much Chinese food. Everyone has a reallycool spirit guide. And for some reason I'm stuck with one that looks like FuManchu."

Then John Edward said that I should ask my guide his name. "What's your name?" Iasked sarcastically.

"Chang," the tall Asian man standing in front of me replied.

"I really have been eating too much Chinese food," I thought. "I've met ChangKing."

John Edward suggested that I ask my guide what my life mission was. Ihalfheartedly complied.

Chang opened his robe and pulled out a copy of a book that I had written in 1997called Andy Lakey's Psychomanteum. I was surprised at first, but then Iconcluded, "Of course I'm going to see my book. I must be on some sort of egotrip or something."

John Edward talks pretty fast, and the tape wound down before I had a chance toask Chang any more questions. I asked Francesca what she saw, and she responded,"I can't meditate. I didn't see anything at all."

Then I made what I would at first feel was a big mistake. I told Francesca of myencounter with Chang. She was intrigued and extremely excited by my vision. Thissoon became an embarrassment for me, as she would tell all of our friends andher relatives, "It's so exciting! Keith has a spirit guide. We think he'sChinese; his name is Chang."

I eventually confronted my wife: "Francesca, why do you keep telling peopleabout this? Aren't you afraid that they're going to think I'm crazy? People aregoing to start thinking that I am getting stressed out from working too hard andsuggest that I receive psychiatric help."

"Keith, your spirit guide is very important to you. You are receiving thismessage for a reason. Everyone has to know about him," she answered.

I insisted that it all seemed pretty meaningless to me, and I had probably justimagined him anyway.

"Look Keith," said Francesca, "I've had many spiritual experiences since we'veknown each other. You've always thought I was imagining these things or that Iwas crazy. Now that you're having these kinds of experiences too, you'll have tobelieve the things I tell you. I know you didn't imagine him. I know that Changis real."

* Ghost Hunters

In March of 2001, a friend of ours named Richard Senate came into our store.Richard is a local "ghost buster" who has written many books about hauntings inVentura. He also has appeared on many television programs, including The MervGriffin Show, Sightings, and Haunted History.

"I've got some great news," said Richard. "I have just been hired by AdelphiaCable to host a nationally syndicated program called Ghost Hunters. I would likeboth of you to help me put together a show about angels."

Francesca and I were excited and quite honored by the invitation. We quicklyagreed to do the program. Richard made just one request of us: that we bringsomeone on the show who had had a real angel experience at our store.

* Katherine's Spirit Guide

Francesca and I debated possible candidates for the program over the next fewdays. I felt that the only person fit to represent us on television was a womannamed Katherine Rosengren. Katherine had credibility.

Katherine is a small woman with short blond hair, twinkling blue eyes, and asweet smile that radiates positive energy wherever she goes. Besides having anexcellent presence, Katherine has the credentials to back her up. She is aregistered nurse, with three master's degrees in psychology. She was also theDirector of Volunteer Services at a local hospice for ten years. Besides this,she is married to a medical doctor in Ventura and assists him in his practice.

On two different occasions, with five different people, Katherine experiencedangelic presences at our store. Her amazing stories are described in two of mybooks.

I called Katherine, and she agreed to do the program. We filmed our show atAdelphia Studios in Oxnard, California, on an evening in early April of 2001.Katherine did an incredible job of describing her angel experiences. She was anatural on camera, speaking with sincerity and professional conviction. Herparticipation helped us to make this one of the best programs of the GhostHunters series. It continued to be aired on Adelphia Cable stations throughoutthe United States as I wrote this book.

After the filming, Francesca and I invited Katherine out to dinner. We went to acasual restaurant that had a sports bar in it. There was a basketball gameplaying on their big screen television and the fans were howling like a pack ofhungry wolves. I felt that this would be a perfect atmosphere where we couldtalk about anything we wanted and no one would hear us.

"Katherine, you were fantastic tonight," I told her. "I can't believe how manypeople have angelic experiences whenever you're around them."

Katherine looked at me over the table and smiled. "I never had many spiritualexperiences in my life until the day I met my spirit guide."

Francesca looked at Katherine, very excited, and said, "You know what? Keith hasa spirit guide, too!"

I knocked my knee against Francesca's under the table, looked at her sternly,clenched my teeth, and quickly shook my head. I did not want our friend to thinkI was crazy. Katherine could admit to a spirit guide if she wished, but I reallydid not want to give out this kind of information about myself to anyone.

Trying to keep my composure, I looked back at Katherine and said, "So what kindof spirit guide do you have? Is he a Native American, an African shaman, ormaybe Merlin the magician?"

Unmoved by my ridicule, Katherine said, "My spirit guide is very unusual. Ithink he's Chinese."

This revelation caught me off guard. I felt as if someone had hit me on the headwith a brick. I took a deep breath and timidly asked what he looked like.

"He kind of looks like ... Fu Manchu." She stopped and looked at me, a littleembarrassed, and then began again: "Well, um, he has a thin mustache that goesdown his face, and a goatee on his chin. He wears a funny hat that looks like itis two stories or something, with a spike on top of it. He also wears a long,robe. It's funny ... whenever I see him he always bows to me."

I felt a chill go down my spine. This was way too weird. How could Katherine seethe same exact person that I had seen in the guided meditation with John Edwardtwo months earlier?

"What is your spirit guide's name?" I stammered.

Katherine looked a little perplexed. She thought for a moment and said, "Well, Icouldn't communicate with my guide at first. He would appear to me whenever Idid a healing massage on one of my hospice patients. I was finally so intriguedby his appearance that I booked a session with a psychic named Michael. I askedhim about what I was seeing. Michael told me that my spirit guide's name was ... Ch-Ch-Chang."

I leaned back in my chair in shock, unable to speak for a moment. I felt as ifthe room was spinning around me. I had not taken my experience seriously, yethere was someone I did not know that well, and she had seen the samemanifestation, with the same name as the man I had seen in my meditation.

I shook my head. I could feel my heart pounding loudly as I tried to speak. Icleared my throat and said, "This is really, really strange. My spirit guide'sname is also Chang and he looks exactly like the Chinese person you justdescribed."

Katherine gasped and sat back stiff in her chair, stunned by my revelation.

I tried to compose myself, and asked Katherine one more question: "Did Michaeltell you what your mission was?"

"Yes he did," said Katherine, now seemingly more confident. "There are supposedto be seventeen people throughout the world who have Chang as their spiritguide. Some of us will become famous and others of us will remain unknown. Allof us will have the same mission to accomplish: 'Helping the people of the worldto overcome their fear of death and helping bring peace and love to the world.'As a spiritual counselor and a hospice worker, I practice these things daily."

"Oh, my God," I responded, "That's what Chang was trying to tell me. My missionis to write spiritual books. The theme of all my books is to show people how toovercome their fear of death and to find greater love for one another.Katherine, how many of these seventeen people do you know?"

"Just you," she replied, "I think we may be destined to do something together.Don't you?"

"What do you think it is we have to do?" I asked.

She smiled and said, "I don't know yet, but I'm sure we'll learn our tasks indue time."

The three of us completed our dinner together, and Francesca and I droppedKatherine off at her home in Ventura. As we drove home, Francesca and I were sodumbfounded by the evening's events that we did not know what to say to oneanother. We just kept repeating, "That was really weird, really, really weird."

When we arrived home, Francesca asked me, "Keith, what do you think this allmeans?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it was just a really strange coincidence."

Francesca shook her head vigorously and said, "What's wrong with you Keith?Can't you see there's too much happening for this to be a coincidence? You bothsaw the same spirit guide and received the same exact message. Something likethis could never ever happen by coincidence."

I nodded grudgingly. "You're probably right. There's just too much going on hereto write this off. I wonder what, if anything, this will lead to."

Francesca smiled at me and said very seriously, "Keith, don't you know this isall going to lead to our destiny?"

I laughed at her solemn tone, "So what do you think our destiny is?"

"I don't know, but I think we are going to find out soon," she replied.

* James Van Praagh Knows Chang

In the summer of 2002, strange things began to happen again. Francesca and Iwent to a wholesale book outlet and made a major purchase of spiritual books tosell in our store. One of the books that we purchased was a bestsellingautobiography entitled Talking to Heaven by psychic James Van Praagh. I wasnever particularly impressed by Van Praagh, so the book held little interest forme at first.

For some reason, however, Francesca became fascinated to the point of obsessionby this book. She just couldn't put it down. She carried it with her everywhere,and to my annoyance, quoted passages to me wherever we went. I was on mycomputer attempting to answer an e-mail from a customer about my Website, whenFrancesca came into the room holding Van Praagh's book and crying. Tears randown her cheeks and she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Stop what you're doing," she demanded.

"What's the matter?" I asked, concerned.

"I've just found something very important. I think it's going to change ourlives," she sobbed. "It's Chang! He's James Van Praagh's spirit guide too."

She handed me her copy of Talking to Heaven and said, "Read this, Keith."

"Can't you see I'm really busy? I'll read it later," I protested.

"No!" she responded firmly, "This is really important. You can't put this off.You've got to read it right now."

"Well, okay, give it to me," I gave in.

Francesca opened the book to chapter three, "Spiritual Helpers," and turned thepage to the sub-chapter "Becoming Aware of My Guides."

My hands began to tremble as I read the words on the page. I really couldn'tbelieve what I was seeing. I thought Chang was more of a personal experience forme and maybe Katherine too, with a few coincidences thrown in, but this showedme that there was something real about the vision I had the year before.