I recently wrote about being a hopeful skeptic. I’d like to be a believer, I’m just cynical enough to think I know how the world works, and many things that require a leap of faith are hard for me.
Despite that, I also mentioned meeting a psychic recently whom I believe is the Real Deal.
Teresa didn’t conjure up something spooky to make me believe. In fact, when I did go and attend an event at her store, it was far from spooky. It was far from anything I expected, actually. Especially since it was dubbed as a Spirit Gathering.
Teresa talks to and claims to hear from the Dead.
Despite that, I also mentioned meeting a psychic recently whom I believe is the Real Deal.
Teresa didn’t conjure up something spooky to make me believe. In fact, when I did go and attend an event at her store, it was far from spooky. It was far from anything I expected, actually. Especially since it was dubbed as a Spirit Gathering.
Teresa talks to and claims to hear from the Dead.
I know most have a preconceived idea of what that might be. We’ve all seen Whoopi Goldberg in “Ghost”. And we’ve heard stories of scams where someone calling themselves a psychic or medium has fleeced people of their savings by promising contact from beyond, or the removal of a curse, or something like that.
For starters, there was no fleecing. For what it would probably cost to go to a movie, Lisa and I had a very entertaining and enjoyable evening.
The fact that this was so reasonably priced was a surprise. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, as my experience with these kinds of things is pretty limited (limited to this one, actually).
I know, you’re probably thinking there was some important message I needed to hear, but could only get if I went to some other, more expensive, possibly private event. While Teresa does offer private readings and such, this wasn’t part of any sales pitch that night. Not for me, or for any of the other people there (I think there were around a dozen of us).
The fact that this was so reasonably priced was a surprise. I don’t really have anything to compare it to, as my experience with these kinds of things is pretty limited (limited to this one, actually).
I know, you’re probably thinking there was some important message I needed to hear, but could only get if I went to some other, more expensive, possibly private event. While Teresa does offer private readings and such, this wasn’t part of any sales pitch that night. Not for me, or for any of the other people there (I think there were around a dozen of us).
In fact, Teresa started off by saying there were no guarantees that everyone would get a message from “the other side”. Some did. Some sort of did. And some didn’t.
This all took place in her shop, Starcrafts. She and her co-host for the evening sat on either side of a table, and the rest of us sat in a sort-of-semi-circle facing them. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. There were no floating crystal balls, no disembodied voices, and no lights flashing off and on.
This all took place in her shop, Starcrafts. She and her co-host for the evening sat on either side of a table, and the rest of us sat in a sort-of-semi-circle facing them. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. There were no floating crystal balls, no disembodied voices, and no lights flashing off and on.
There were even jokes made – about each other, about some of the dearly Departed and even about the stereotypical idea of a Spirit Gathering.
The way it worked is that Teresa would say that she was hearing something from someone (insert particular message for “something” and name of Departed for “someone”). Some of these were pretty specific, directed at someone in particular. Some were a little vague, as if Teresa wasn’t sure she was hearing the message correctly. And some seemed to miss the mark completely – that is, whoever the message was for didn’t seem to understand what it was supposed to mean, or even recognize who the send supposedly was.
The times when the person in attendance didn’t get it, or know who could possibly be sending the message, there was never an attempt to alter it. No games. She didn’t say it’s from someone named Rob or Ron, or maybe Rich. Or Ray. Or Bill or Steve or Dan. Or maybe it’s a woman with an R in her name.
I got a rather innocuous message. Someone over there is proud of me.
That’s nice, but it doesn’t prove anything. In fact, none of what happened that evening really proves anything.
For me, though, it’s more about the kind of person I believe Teresa is.
She comes across as someone who believes they have a pretty cool gift, and she gets goosebumps when something particularly cool happens because of this gift. There isn’t the ego you might expect from someone claiming to have some supernatural or extra-sensory ability. She’s self-assured enough to believe she is what she says she is, but she’s not arrogant or over-confident, insisting you believe.
I should also mention that the other people there that evening were all very friendly. I instantly felt like I was part of the group, and not an outsider horning in on someone else’s experience.
Finally, since she and Lisa are friends, I have spent time with her outside of her shop. We’ve talked about mundane topics like writing and movies (and not winning the lottery) – everything isn’t about ghosts and the Dead and past lives and all that other stuff.
Some of it is, though. And I’ve heard some interesting stories about when she was growing up, and about Sharon Tate and about the Titanic. But those are her stories, not mine, so you’ll need to ask her about them.
There’s another Spirit Gathering this weekend, and if you’re in the San Diego area, you should really think about going. I can’t promise you’ll hear from anyone, or that you’ll have an experience that will make you believe anything. I can only tell you you’ll have an entertaining evening.
You can check out Teresa’s store HERE and you can find her schedule of events HERE.
Oh, I almost forgot! Here’s what shuffled out of my playlist while I was typing this…
R.E.M. “Pretty Persuasion”
Squeeze “Tempted”
Paul Simon “Dazzling Blue”
Bruce Springsteen “Stand On It”
Brian Setzer “Red Hot”
The Clash “London Calling”
The Rolling Stones “Rock And A Hard Place”
Yes “It Can Happen”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “I Need To Know”
Kansas “Song For America”
The Cars “Sad Song”
Sting “Brand New Day”
Ken
The way it worked is that Teresa would say that she was hearing something from someone (insert particular message for “something” and name of Departed for “someone”). Some of these were pretty specific, directed at someone in particular. Some were a little vague, as if Teresa wasn’t sure she was hearing the message correctly. And some seemed to miss the mark completely – that is, whoever the message was for didn’t seem to understand what it was supposed to mean, or even recognize who the send supposedly was.
The times when the person in attendance didn’t get it, or know who could possibly be sending the message, there was never an attempt to alter it. No games. She didn’t say it’s from someone named Rob or Ron, or maybe Rich. Or Ray. Or Bill or Steve or Dan. Or maybe it’s a woman with an R in her name.
I got a rather innocuous message. Someone over there is proud of me.
That’s nice, but it doesn’t prove anything. In fact, none of what happened that evening really proves anything.
For me, though, it’s more about the kind of person I believe Teresa is.
She comes across as someone who believes they have a pretty cool gift, and she gets goosebumps when something particularly cool happens because of this gift. There isn’t the ego you might expect from someone claiming to have some supernatural or extra-sensory ability. She’s self-assured enough to believe she is what she says she is, but she’s not arrogant or over-confident, insisting you believe.
I should also mention that the other people there that evening were all very friendly. I instantly felt like I was part of the group, and not an outsider horning in on someone else’s experience.
Finally, since she and Lisa are friends, I have spent time with her outside of her shop. We’ve talked about mundane topics like writing and movies (and not winning the lottery) – everything isn’t about ghosts and the Dead and past lives and all that other stuff.
Some of it is, though. And I’ve heard some interesting stories about when she was growing up, and about Sharon Tate and about the Titanic. But those are her stories, not mine, so you’ll need to ask her about them.
There’s another Spirit Gathering this weekend, and if you’re in the San Diego area, you should really think about going. I can’t promise you’ll hear from anyone, or that you’ll have an experience that will make you believe anything. I can only tell you you’ll have an entertaining evening.
You can check out Teresa’s store HERE and you can find her schedule of events HERE.
Oh, I almost forgot! Here’s what shuffled out of my playlist while I was typing this…
R.E.M. “Pretty Persuasion”
Squeeze “Tempted”
Paul Simon “Dazzling Blue”
Bruce Springsteen “Stand On It”
Brian Setzer “Red Hot”
The Clash “London Calling”
The Rolling Stones “Rock And A Hard Place”
Yes “It Can Happen”
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers “I Need To Know”
Kansas “Song For America”
The Cars “Sad Song”
Sting “Brand New Day”
Ken
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