TALK, HEAR, DOUBT YOUR DOUBTS

Loved ones who have passed away can still whisper wisdom to you. JULIA CAMERON explains how she learned to connect with the world beyond.

- JULIA CAMERON

I SPEAK TO PEOPLE who have passed on as a daily practice. As I reach out, they hear me and respond. The first is a spirit named Jane Cecil, a close friend and advisor during her lifetime. I spoke to her daily and was grateful for her wise counsel.

“Can I hear from Jane?” I ask. I hear back promptly. “Julia, I am right at your side.” She continues, “You are led carefully and well. There is no error in your path.”

Having greeted me and set me at ease, Jane is ready to be more specific. She turns her attention to the issue at hand. “Your book is going well,” she tells me. “Keep a steady pace. Do not second-guess yourself.”

Jane’s messages are brief and direct. They are soothing, having the uncanny knack of addressing precisely my current concerns. Sometimes they pinpoint a concern before I have identified it. Jane may say, “You’re clean and sober. You’ll continue to be firm in your sobriety.” Until Jane spoke, I was not consciously aware of my nagging worry about drinking. But there it was. Jane’s wisdom surpassed my own.

After “talking” to Jane, I turn my attention to another friend, Elberta Honstein, a breeder of championship Morgan horses. Elberta’s communiqués retain the flavor of the horse show ring. “Julia, you are a champion,” she may tell me. “No obstacle is too much for you. You are strong. I give you stamina and grace.”

Like Jane’s, Elberta’s messages are reassuring. They tackle what I think of as my “hidden concerns.” I worry that I am not enough, but Elberta assures me that I am plenty.