Spiritual Visits from Loved ones!

July 2014 Newsletter

 

Three years ago, James Van Praagh (www.jamesvanpraagh.com) Psychic Medium came to Seattle offering a week long mediumship workshop. In the amazing workshop James taught us a large variety of ways to connect with loved ones on the other side.

 

There was a curious photo that really stood out for me that my living grandmother gave to for the workshop. On the back was her name, Celeste Hunter. I knew she was family however not exactly sure which side of the family she belonged to. I held on to this photo all week long, looking at it, feeling drawn to it more than the others. James had said on the first day of the class that we would give a photo to another person in the group and they would connect, with the family member without ever seeing the photo, only holding it. So I carried that photo each day just in case that particular exercise came up.

Well it was now Friday afternoon, and finally he said, pull out your photos, pair up with a partner and do not let the other person see the photo and then he left the room.   I realized in that moment that the photo of Celeste Hunter was gone. I rummaged through my family photos, looked through my purse, suitcase, notebook, and under and around my seat. Oh my goodness, I have waited all week and now the photo is gone. By this time 100 mediumship students have partnered up and I am looking all around the room to see where I dropped it. I then walked back to my chair and there it was laying right there where I had just been sitting. Face up on the chair, which had just been empty.

However it was too late, everyone was partnered. Then I noticed a woman off in the corner as a threesome. I whispered and asked if she was working with anyone, and she nodded her head no. Then she asked if I wanted to partner with her. She stepped out into a clear area and introduced herself. Hi, “My name is Celeste!”   What a shock! If I had grabbed the first person next to me to partner with….it would not have been Celeste. What a great spirit she had to organize that one. So I worked with the live Celeste, who talked to the spirit of Celeste and we had a great laugh at the things that came through.

Every so often since that day, I think of her and can feel her presence, but never really engaged in conversation, until last week.   I was invited to a party and the host asked me to bring a cherry pie. No problem, I will just run by the store, pick up a cherry pie and a half gallon of vanilla ice-cream and I am good to go!   You see, I am not very fond of cooking. I am not thrilled with cooking shows or recipe books. I do love to eat and can appreciate an awesome cook, however, cooking requires great patience on my part.

Two days before the party, I hear in my head…make a Cherry Cobbler instead of a pie. I even felt inspired to look up recipes.   I found a good one and again, thought this should be easy, purchase canned cherries and sprinkle a crust on the top. In the grocery store, I looked for canned cherries, and then frozen cherries. The store was out of both. No way was I going to get fresh cherries because they required taking the pits out. I felt a push towards the fresh fruit isle. A hard push, and before I knew it, I was filling my basket with enough cherries to fill 10 cups for the cobbler.

I then swung through the bakery area and now see a huge beautiful home baked looking cherry pie. My first thought was…Nancy, just ditch the “from scratch” ingredients, pick up that beautiful pie and go home. I placed the pie in my cart and started off to return all the other items and my feet would not budge. I tried to turn the cart and I felt solidly stuck to the ground and the cart would not even turn. Then I felt the strong presence of Celeste Hunter. So I said to her, fine, fine, fine…I will put the pie back and do it your way.

Home with the ingredients, it took me two hours to take the pits out of 10 cups of cherries. Celeste was thrilled that I learn how to cook the old fashioned way. She also wanted me to experience just how much she enjoyed cooking. She guided me each step of the way. The last ingredient? Pecans! They were not called for in the recipe, however, she insisted. So the pecans became part of the crust on the top.

The cherry cobbler was a huge hit. My 93 year old grandmother was there to have the first taste. I shared the story and she shared with me that her grandmother was Celeste Hunter on her mother’s side. She was only 5 foot in height but my grandmother described her as a “mighty” force to be reckoned with. She was also known as a great cook and the final piece was that Celeste put pecans in EVERYTHING! My grandmother laughed so hard at the image I described in the grocery store and not being able to move and had to put the pie back.

 

This is not the end of the story though. The next day, my Aunt from Texas wrote an email to our family with a photo of Celeste Hunter with more history and stories about her.   Aunt Mary had no idea what had just happened with the Cherry Cobbler. Celeste Hunter was pulling the whole family together from the other side.

 

So when you cook traditional meals that are passed down through your family, is it only you who is cooking it?   A fun question to ask yourself next time you are preparing a dish.

 

Energy tips

 

This month choose an old recipe that has been passed down through generations in your family. Phone your parents, your grandparents knowing that in your questions it helps build the energy for you loved ones to come through in your cooking.

Allow yourself to ground yourself while you cook and just sense and know if you are being guided.

Place old photos of family members in the kitchen while you work.

Look up old recipes from your heritage and try and recreate them from scratch.

While cooking, allow the love from your Ancestors to come through you and fill the dish.

When you present the dish to your family and friends share stories of your ancestors and the foods they used to eat. This rich heritage is healing and delightfully inspiring to cook more in the old fashioned way!