This week I’m on a business trip in the Southeastern United States and had a chance to meet-up with a friend who I refer to as Candice in my emails to test readers. This is a picture of her hand. She wanted everyone to see that she is real.
Readers of the Unfolding Series know the character is Drew’s legal sister and they have an unusually strong psychic bond. In the real world, we’ve been friends for over a decade. While the Genesis of the series and the experience that connected Drew and Candice were caused by events we did not share, she has been a confidant and adviser during the writing of Unfolding: Awakening and the soon to be published Unfolding: Nexus.
When Candice heard I was coming into her area, she asked if we could meet at a psychic fair on the state fairgrounds. It’s about 10 minutes from my hotel and sounded like a good idea. We arrived within two or three minutes of each other to meet at 11:00 AM Sunday morning on the broad concourse in front of the building where the fair was held.
Once inside, we continually walked around looking at the different vendors and their offerings. There was a lot of technology, a handful of food vendors, lots of clothing, and maybe two or three dozen psychics giving readings or healings.
Candice had gone on Saturday, too, so we looked at the psychics she had talked to and signed up with one of them. Instead, we would latter sit with Stephen Mucci, a reader who uses psychometry. I’m getting a little ahead of the story.
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When we first entered the conference hall, we walked around several times making observations and catching up on what’s been going on in our lives. We talked to a few vendors and Candice pointed out the psychics she talked to on Saturday. The first was good at channeling, connecting the living with people and spirits on the other side. The second was a tarot card reader who told of past lives and related them to what was happening to a person in their current life. Candice said she felt the tarot reader revealed specific insights that couldn’t otherwise have been known.
We made a few more passes around the hall. Candice was checking out the food samples and I was comparing this psychic fair to others I’ve attended. There appeared to be more modern technology; many with with claims I’d like better documentation on. We talked to a handful of vendors about the specifics of the technology products that were for sale. There was a lot of jewelry and more clothing than I’ve seen at these events. The rest was the usual mix of handcrafts, massage therapists, and healers. While looking at clothing and trinkets, we finally deciding to make an appointment with the card reader Candice had had a session with.
I have not received a professional reading in many years, relying instead on information friends and I share with each other. Here was an opportunity to see if a stranger might pick up new information while I was with someone I have an intense awareness of.
The reader was taking a long time with the client before us, so I crossed off my name saying, “We’ll have lunch first. These things happen in the paranormal; we might be back if led to return.”
Honestly, I was almost more interested in the other reader Candice had talked to, the one who channeled departed friends, family, and spirit guides. I was interested in finding the dynamics that tie me to people, like Candice, who I have a close connection with. I’m not sure he would’ve done any better than anyone else; true messages that are revealed are usually exposed for a purpose. Whether I would’ve got my answer or not remained uncertain.
Our delays continued. The staff in the outdoor food wagon was slow in putting orders together, so we had a long time to talk about family, our friendship, my stories, and all sorts of other things, real or imagined, and speculated on it all.
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Using pseudonyms and not revealing everything about my close friends and test readers in group messages, allows them to keep a certain amount of their lives private. The fictional characters personalities, traits, and histories are different from the real-life personas that each is loosely based on.
This is one of the first posts where I’ve shown a picture of any of them. Readers of the series can see her hair is shorter than they probably imagined. She cut it since we last met.
One puzzle that continues to interest me is: why most everyone I am close to has the connections we do.
It could be that we’re simply built with a similar electromagnetic capacity. I truly think there’s more to it than that.
It may be that only random events happen and all we’re doing is reacting to them making patterns that aren’t there. Again, I think there’s more to it.
In the end, I’d like to believe we might simply see a little more of that common spark each of us carries, taking comfort in that awareness. If we have memories from times before this shared life, so much the better.
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Returning to the hall and following a little more talk, we settled on Stephen Mucci. Candice had looked him up online using her smartphone, found he was on the Discovery Channel, and felt this added to his credibility.
We went through the introductions, explaining that while we were connected and married, we were not married to each other, nor having an affair. Psychics are usually good about that sort of thing. After lifetimes of interactions, both friendly and otherwise, it is not unusual to find complex relationships.
Stephen simply nodded.
Since the reading was through psychometry, we had to give something for him to hold. I offered the energy disk on the gold chain that I always wear and we both offered our wedding rings.
I asked Stephen if I could record the session. When I said it was audio, he agreed. However, it appears the message was not for other ears. As we started to get into the reading, a bunch of voices overwhelmed the hall with Hindu chants and an especially enthusiastic Hari Krishna, that went on for most of the 20 minutes of the reading, ruining the recording. The Sony is a pretty good sound recorder and faithfully recorded those overpowering chants.
This was a warm reading – as opposed to a cold reading where no information is offered. He asked for some clues. I gave several and held back others. The reading was for me, but I asked that Candice be allowed to sit with us and that she be included in the reading. Since it was important to me to learn some unique things or at least receive a confirmation, I didn’t want to give too much away. He didn’t talk about any of my other friends specifically, just that with reincarnation, it’s normal to recognize people when we see them again.
Stephen said Candice and I were old souls. Candace was surprised. She thinks of herself as a young soul but the smile on her face showed how much she appreciated there was more to her. He congratulated me on knowing that, just because there were connections in a past life, it doesn’t mean we should abandon our obligations in this life and take up with another person.
According to him, it felt like Candace and I were together in England. I said that was good, because I can understand English. Stephen chuckled at this. I, like my fictional counterpart, have a dry sense of humor.
In the reading, we heard we were a brother and sister. Stephen added that we look a great deal alike in our present lifetime. Candace punched me in the arm as soon as he said it, exclaiming, “Jeff, did you hear that!?” I could still feel where she hit me several hours later.
What Stephen did not know is that these are specific characteristics I assigned to the fictional twins Drew and Candice.
As I was the main subject of the reading, the focus then narrowed on my wife, ConiAnn, and my writing. He asked about ConiAnn and I gave a little. He was sympathetic in his emotion and he complimented me for taking such good care of her.
As far as character, he said I’m good to people but I have to know that not everyone else will be that way to me. I may have lent money and not felt bad when it wasn’t repaid, but I should not do that in the future. He also said to pay attention and not defer maintenance on certain things ConiAnn and I own.
On my writing, he recommended I find a publisher on the West Coast. He felt there was one out there that would take on the series. He sees me writing more books and one nonfiction. This won’t happen right away but could in several years. He also recommended I keep my current job and that I was very good at it.
In all, I knew most of this already, not the life in England for I have no memory of that, nor of the publisher on the West Coast. If I do enter into an agreement with such a publisher, you read it here first.
Afterwards I told Candace that ConiAnn is my editor. When she’s healthy enough, we will finish the final edits on Nexus and then maybe look into a publisher. I feel if I’m going to get a publisher, an agent should also be considered. Time will tell.
I wish he would’ve been able to shed light on my connection to those close friends I mentioned – what the driving forces are. As it is, I’m grateful we keep in touch. It was funny that he picked up on Candace and me being a brother and sister in our earlier life, since that is the relationship our fictional selves share. There was no immediate rush to fame and fortune foretold. This is fine with me, for as I’ve said before, if the books don’t sell it’s enough I was able to share the stories with you who’ve taken the time to read them.
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The afternoon had worn into long shadows and Candace had to return home, having spent so much of the last two days at the fairgrounds. The time had come for me to
verify that I could find the location where I will be working this week then return to the hotel.
It was good to be with my friend again and to share each other’s presence and little stories of our lives.
On the way home, I may have a chance to visit several other people who have influenced my writing, including Andrea and the man I refer to as “Old Friend.”
We both felt it would’ve been more fun if ConiAnn had been able to come along.
We parted where we had met – on a broad entrance to the building where the fair was held. Candace looked back over her shoulder, smiled, and said, “Goodbye, Brother!”
I called back, “Goodbye, Sis.”
Cherish the friends you have close connections with. Send them your good wishes, your light, and if you still pray, remember them as you prepare for sleep.
– Jeffrey A. Limpert
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Last Modified: 09/06/12
Amazon – Unfolding: Awakening