Tapping in to the other side
By Nancy B. Loughlin
Published in News Press on January 28, 2014. Posted with permission.
Zachari
I was always skeptical of psychics. When I played with the Ouija Board at childhood slumber parties, I was the one pushing the planchette.
But as I grew older, I realized that many people who claim to be psychics were people who possessed the ability to connect with others on energetic levels. They are intuitive people.
The company I’m in isn’t all bad. Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes (the king of logic and reason), regularly consulted spiritualists to speak with the dead. This practice was much to the dismay of his friend Harry Houdini who considered séances to be outright frauds. A smattering of movie stars, kings, queens, and politicians have consulted the guidance of people who claim to have connections on the other side or the inner side.
If I am going to see a psychic, I don’t want to walk into a storefront with a posted pricelist. Tarot cards: $30 for 30 minutes. No appointment necessary.
I want a tip, a whisper from a friend. “I know this person. He knows things.” She’ll slip me a card with just a number: 239.560.5224.
“This is Zachari,” the voice on the phone will say. It’s pronounced zah-CAR-ree. No, he doesn’t have a last name.
He’s more like a therapist or a life coach, but he prefers the label “clairsentient,” one who understands via feeling. He doesn’t “read you,” but he connects and speaks from your perspective.
“My readings are psychologically rooted. I assist in making your present situation very clear. Together, we work toward opening your heart and reading your story,” Zachari said.
Zachari is emphatic that he does not perceive the client as a passive entity in any reading. For this clairsentient, he works in a creative soul space. His house is called CasaShanti (Facebook it), and he offers guidance through astrology, numerology, spirit guides, color analysis, palmistry and tarot. He describes himself as a multi-dimensional reader who explores clients’ emotional, mental and spiritual states.
He also channels a spirit guide named Abrum.
But can Zachari “see” things that we cannot? Zachari himself said no.
“You’re just getting in your own way,” he said.
In yoga, this is a crisis of avidya. Avidya is the state of being ignorant of who we are and of the interconnectedness of the universe, ourselves included. We have succumbed to the cult of our own personalities and buy into the myriad myths of who we think we are. When avidya takes over, we are buried under our roles and self-concepts and think temporary life situations are permanent.
Throughout the film The Matrix, Neo is conflicted by avidya. At the stunning conclusion Neo experiences a lifting of his ignorance. He is tapped in. Enlightened, he is able to stop the flight of incoming bullets with a single raised hand. He surveys the scene, and the landscape of separate, disconnected objects is replaced by interconnected circuitry, a system which includes him and is him.
When we see, really see, the unity of all existence, we cannot feel stuck, inadequate, and/or directionless.
Is seeking emotional guidance from a clairsentient who channels Abrum any weirder than from a therapist who “channels” a master’s degree for a $25 co-pay?
The late great Sylvia Browne wrote about the simplicity of her talents. Clients would ask her a question. She would ask God, and say, “Hit it, God,” and the answer would be the first thing that popped to her head.
What comes to mind first, absolutely first, is the answer. Why? Because when we can bypass all the noise of the conscious mind, we can tap into the subconscious which is part of the infinite knowledge of the universe. Trippy woo-woo aside, those who experience sudden Eurekas as a result of meditative, prayerful or focused states can attest to this truth.
It’s stilling the mind that is the tricky part.
Zachari demonstrates this during a reading. He sits in meditation, eyes closed. He calls it “connecting with your energy,” such language being part of the scenery.
One criticism that is often leveled at people like Zachari is that they really don’t possess “psychic” ability. They are interpreting body language or other cues.
Of course he is interpreting body language. He is also interpreting speech, emotional states, dress, anything that he can get his hands on. We cannot NOT communicate, and when we’ve muddied up our waters to the point where we don’t know what to do or what to think, readers like Zachari will attempt to uncover the subconscious. And the subconscious always knows.
But, I am still puzzled how Zachari knew my perfectly healthy uncle was going to die suddenly six months before it happened. I also can’t explain how Zachari knew that I would be quitting my teaching job and working someplace that began with a J when I had no plans on leaving my employment and had never even heard of a school that began with a J. It’s a mystery how he knew someone named Michael would get in touch with me with important advice about a research project.
I asked how he knew. Zachari just smiled at me and said, “I’m not pulling this out of my ass.”
How much do we want to know? Even when driving, the headlights only illuminate 400 feet ahead, yet we remain confident that the trail will be lit as we continue our journeys.
