Magic

I recently wrote a diary about the ghosts and time travelers who seem to be haunting my apartment building. We recently had the delightful experience of seeing a show at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles performed by magician Brandon Scott, who has been on Dreamland with Starfire Tor, talking about time travel. Subscribers can still listen to this show.

Those who don’t know me think I’m some sort of “believer,” while those who DO know me realize that I’m the toughest sort of skeptic. Whitley has run all of his extraordina ry experiences past me, including his incredible meeting with the Master of the Key, and I have taken them apart every which way I can think of before I have declared them to be truly anomalous, at least as far as I can tell. After all, there IS no “paranormal,” there are only things we do not understand, probably because we do not yet comprehend that this is a quantum world. I’m going to discuss that very subject with quantum physicist Dr. Fred Alan Wolf on this weekend’s Dreamland (July 22-23).

So while I enjoy being with Brandon and Starfire (and I’m a big fan of card magic, also called “close up” magic, at which he is an expert), I do not necessarily take their time travel stories at face value, although I believe they are sincere, or I wouldn’t be interested in knowing them.

After dinner but before the show, we all took the opportunity to go to the bathroom. Whitley used the Men’s Room at the top of a short flight of stairs, while Starfire and I went downstairs to the Ladies.

Unbeknownst to me, Whitley did not enter the Men’s Room right away, but waited at the top of the stairs so he could see me when I came out of the Ladies and make sure we all met up and made our way together to the theater where Brandon was performing. Since my aneurysm two years ago, I sometimes have trouble finding my way around, so he often does this sort of thing for me.

When Starfire and I entered the Ladies Room, we saw two stalls, and both were empty, so we each took one. There was no one else in the Ladies Room and it was small, so we would have noticed if someone else had been there. I was done first so I washed my hands and went outside into the hall to wait for Starfire. Almost as soon as I got there, a woman I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE came out of the Ladies Room and brushed past me on her way up the stairs! I was too surprised to notice that Whitley was standing at the top of the stairs at the time, and when he realized that I was waiting for Starfire, he went on inside the Gents.

I told this story to Starfire as soon as she came out, and she said that she had bumped into a woman when she was at the sink washing up. I explained that I had seen the women leave, but never seen her enter. We compared notes: We both agreed that the restroom has been empty when we entered it. As a test, we decided not to describe the woman to each other so that neither of us would be influenced by the other’s description if we saw her again.

When I went up the stairs and talked to Whitley, I told him about the incident in a quiet voice, so that Starfire wouldn’t hear me. The woman had on a rather distinctive skirt that was easy to describe, and he said he had seen a woman dressed exactly that way come out of the Ladies Room while I was standing there.

I was delighted–magic had happened, while I was in the Magic Castle with a magician! Starfire and I questioned Brandon when we saw him and he said the woman sounded like a photographer who was working there that night. He knocked on a door covered with a pane of stained glass and a woman opened it. Starfire and I both recognized her instantly! In order to test this further, Starfire mentioned bumping into her in the bathroom and she remembered the incident clearly. Whitley could see she was wearing the distinctive skirt I had described.

Then my logical mind started whirling: Since she worked there, could she have entered by a hidden door in the back wall of the Ladies, instead of through the front door? I remembered the wall as smooth and painted, with no outline of a door, but the next time either Starfire or I visit the Magic Castle, you can be sure we will check carefully to see if such a door exists.

Ever since I began having my bouts of “shamanic intuition,” after I woke up from almost dying, I seem to meet lots of psychics and mediums, starting with the contact with Glennys MacKay after so many years, which seemingly occurred out of the blue. My newest friend is an actress who is also a psychic. She’s moving to New York City because her husband, who is also an actor, has gotten a role in a soap opera. Having lived in New York for many years, I’ve been giving her advice on big city life and she’s been giving me the benefit of her psychic insight. She’s worked with the LAPD in solving several cases and they are sorry to lose her. They have given her name to the NYPD as someone to consult with. I just saw a news story today about how psychics claim to be able to help solve crimes but are really just bluffing and that made me laugh. One thing that I’m sure HASN’T changed about the NYC police is that they are totally unconcerned about being impolite to anyone. If they weren’t interested in networking with her, they would have blown her off immediately, with no apology.

In an email, she gave me some valuable psychic information about The Grays film. I mentioned that I was putting off calling a good friend who has just buried her daughter, because I didn’t know if it was the right time, etc. She replied that in her experience, the bereaved always like to hear from friends, and that made me realize that I didn’t need any kind of psychic intuition to realize that I was putting off calling this person because of MY fears, not concern about her needs, and it was time to put all that aside. I picked up the phone, made the call and had a nice long talk with my friend. It turns out that she’s about to leave for a trip to the Chautauqua Institute, where Whitley and I went annually for many years. It’s a wonderful, spiritual place and I’m sure it will do a lot to heal her heart. I was able to tell her how wonderful it was, what courses to take while she’s there, and most important, I was able to make her laugh. It was a good connection.

Communicating with my new friend by email reminded me of another friend or mine with whom I exchange emails several times a day, even though we have never met. We have become so close that she named her cat after me, after I told her she should go ahead and adopt the stray that was hanging around her house. I’ve just found out that she has an incurable disease, although she insists it isn’t terminal. Maybe we never will meet, unless she can figure out a way to become a time traveler and visit me from the world of the dead. The way my life has been going lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened.

A good friend might be all the magic that most of us get in this world, unless we are professionals like Brandon Scott. I peeked in the hall closet the other day and noticed that ANOTHER box of dryer sheets has appeared there, despite the fact that I still haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store to buy any.

To read our news story about this experience, click here. To read Starfire’s version of these events, click here. To see a wonderful photo history of the Magic Castle, including photographs of the Ladies Room, click here.

NOTE: This Diary entry, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.