CHAPTER 1

THE GIFT

In the late summer of 1994 I was given a most amazing gift bythe unseen world of Spirit. Nothing in my then 43 years sufficientlyprepared me for this unexpected gift and the odyssey that was to follow.This event was to change my life in wonderful ways I could not haveimagined. It would also bring together the many different threads of mylife experience and weave them into a rich and beautiful tapestry with adesign far beyond any my human mind could ever have conceived.

I had been a successful and accomplished massage therapist for 10years, but had for some time wanted to branch out into other modalitiesof healing. Over the years I had studied psychotherapy, hypnotherapyand astrology, as well as a smattering of other holistic healing forms,and had recently added psychological counseling and hypnotherapy tomy practice.

My personal life at this time was in a state of flux. I had recentlygone through a divorce, something that my husband and I had mutuallyagreed on. We had chosen not to have children, and although difficult,the divorce felt for me like a step in the right direction.

A spiritual seeker for many years, I had studied many of theworld's great spiritual traditions, and was a confirmed, if not alwaysdisciplined, meditator. I had been fortunate enough to work directlywith some truly original and inspired teachers, from whose wisdomand guidance I had benefited greatly. Yet, despite my rich spiritual life,and a fulfilling and successful career, my heart and mind remainedrestless and searching. I had the chronic feeling that I had not yetfound my path, nor my true calling.

One night I awoke at 4:30 a.m., much earlier than my usual time. Ibegan doing an ancient Taoist practice of healing sounds I had learned,trying to get back to sleep, when I spontaneously left my body.

At first I could see the room around me, although I was outside myphysical body. Then I was floating on my back in what appeared to bea shining pool of water. Completely lucid and at peace, I realized thatin this state of consciousness whatever I thought would instantly cometo be. With the next thought, I was flying through the early morningsky. Below me I saw a range of mountain peaks I did not recognize,illuminated in the rosy morning light. I moved through the Earth'satmosphere into space and headed directly towards the star clusterknown as the Pleiades.

Time seemed to be measured not in a stream of successive moments,but in thought units. In the next thought unit, the stars of the Pleiadescluster became seven beams of brilliant white light which came towardme and surrounded me. An indescribable sound enveloped me, abeautiful celestial harmony that was beyond words. I knew that thebeams of light surrounding me were great beings, although I did notsee them as having recognizable bodily shapes. A profound sense ofwonder filled me.

The Beings of Light produced three or four crystalline objects thatwere made entirely of light, golden in color. I was told through a directknowing that these light crystals were encoded with information. I wasnot told what the information was, but I sensed that the light crystalswere something like a computer disc, only much more sophisticated,and that they contained an advanced system of knowledge. Throughthe intention of the Light Beings, the crystals were then placed withinmy astral body.

In the next thought I was back in my bedroom, looking at my bodyfrom above. Then, just as quickly, I was back in my body—waking upto my normal, everyday reality.

Nothing in my years of spiritual work seemed to lead up to—orto explain—what had just happened. While I had been aware of thepossibilities of out-of-body travel, I had not had the experience ofleaving my body, nor had I been particularly interested in doing so. Iwondered for many days after this event what it all meant and whatwas going to happen next. It appeared I had been given some form ofinformation, but I had no idea what that information was. How was Imeant to access whatever was encoded in the crystals? Who were theseLight Beings? Why did they seem to come from the Pleiades? Whatwas the nature of this "system of knowledge", and what did it haveto do with me? I waited anxiously for further revelations that wouldmake it all clear, but none came.

In fact, my life went on with frustrating normality. Nothing atall seemed to have changed. While one part of me wanted immediateconfirmation that I had, in fact, been given some form of importantknowledge by these beings, another part of my consciousness knewthat, in its own time and in its own way, the nature of the gift wouldbe revealed. I had always had a strong skeptical streak, but somethingabout this experience left me no doubts as to its veracity. And indeed, inthe weeks and months that...