Dear Julia:

I recently went to see a medium, and had the most amazing experience. She answered all my questions about my job, love life, etc., and she seemed "on" enough, but then she said that a spirit was coming through. She closed her eyes, and while she was apparently concentrating within, her FACE changed. I saw the face of another woman superimposed over her own. It was not someone I recognized. In fact, it was hard to make out, because of the medium's facing "showing through" a bit. Then her face changed AGAIN! Several faces came and went, and finally I saw a face very much like my grandmother's, and then the medium opened her eyes and brought through my grandmother from Spirit. I was just astounded. I left there so atwitter that I never asked the medium what had just happened, so I'm asking you. What in the world?

Elaine

Dear Elaine:

My goodness, how exciting. You've found a medium capable of physical mediumship, in this day and age! After reading your question, I was left wondering if the medium knew what had happened. It's possible that this doesn't happen often, and that she was unaware of what you were seeing.

What you experienced is called "transfiguration." It's a form of mediumship in which the medium temporarily takes on the appearance of the communicating spirit. Usually this happens only in the face, but the whole body can also be transformed. Please note that when I write "transformed," I don't mean that it literally appears that a different person is sitting before you. I mean that the face of another entity is superimposed over the face of the medium. I believe this sort of experience is more common than most folks might think. One of the strangest experiences of my life involved something like what you describe, and I'm still not sure what to make of it.

Many years ago when I was a college student, I had a close friend named Charlie. Charlie was very Catholic, but otherwise, we were kindred spirits. We often discussed and debated spiritual matters, with me ever opening doors of possibility, and Charlie trying to close them. One night we had something of a fight. I don't even recall what it was about now, but it seemed for a few hours that our friendship was ending. We wound up sitting on opposite sides of the room with our backs against the wall, just staring silently at each other. It was very late at night, and we were both tired. The only light came from an adjoining room, so it was fairly dim.

As I sat just gazing at him, I began to see his aura. This was nothing new to me, so I relaxed into the delicious dreamy state of seeing auras, when suddenly his face began to change. It was like a holographic face appeared on top of his; it was similar to his, yet different. At the same time I was seeing this, I could see Charlie's real face beneath this image, and his expression was one of astonishment, as though he was experiencing something strange as well. In quick succession then different faces took form on top of his. It began with the face of an old woman, and then there were a few others, and then the face of what looked to me to be an imposing Spanish conquistador, and then finally a hippie with long hair, a beard, and gentle eyes.

We snapped out of it simultaneously and both started speaking at once, then I let him go first. He said something like, "Oh my God, you won't believe what just happened. Your face just changed. First you were this craggy old woman, then you were [this and that] and then you became the Devil, and then you were Jesus Christ!"

I was speechless for a moment, for it hit me that we had seen exactly the same thing. I had seen him become an old woman, and a Spanish conquistador (a man with a pointy beard, who could easily resemble "the devil" if one was predispositioned to interpreting this image this way), and a gentle bearded hippie (Jesus Christ). Our fight was immediately forgotten, and we were totally freaked out. We decided that we must have seen each other as we had been in past lives, but now I no longer believe that to be true. After all, the images we saw were identical, so unless we were one person in those past lives, it doesn't make sense. I now believe we were seeing spirits as they used our etheric energy to manifest visual images, either of themselves or of others, such as Jesus.

This was early on in my psychic life, and I had no frame of reference for this experience. It was later that I became a medium myself and learned about transfiguration and other forms of physical mediumship, and this new knowledge "validated" that experience, for neither of us had ever heard of such a thing before. Apparently it is "normal" for many faces to appear in succession when a medium is allowing transfiguration to take place. I don't know who the spirits were, or why we saw images of "the devil" and "Jesus Christ." It feels to me like it was related to all our religious debates, which were really at the center of our relationship. Perhaps it was just a "gift" to keep our friendship intact.

Transfiguration is much like mirror-gazing, wherein the faces of spirits can appear over your own as you gaze into a mirror. This was invented by the ancient Greeks, and has been practiced by lots of spiritual folk throughout the ages, especially Wiccans. It is even currently being employed by modern psychologists as a very effective tool in grief counseling.

Try mirror gazing for yourself:

First, ask for help from Spirit. Don't leave the doorway open to just any spirit passing by. Set a clear conscious intention of connecting with spirits of love and light, or with a certain loved one in Spirit or your guides. (Guides tend to be more adept at such manifestations than your average afterlife dweller.) Sit in front of a mirror in a darkened room. The best lighting is a candle or two that is placed behind you or off to the side. Start by gazing into your own eyes. Your eyes will quickly begin to grow bleary, and your gaze will naturally soften. This is good. Don't bring things back into focus, even though it may be hard to resist trying. Just stare at yourself with a soft gaze. The key is to be in a very relaxed, receptive state of mind. Now you want to just watch what happens. You will likely begin to see changes taking place, and these changes will turn into faces. Try to just relax and OBSERVE. If any faces make you uncomfortable, call upon your guides and angels to help you to bring through only pleasant images.

Like my experience with my friend Charlie, you can also try this with a friend. What's really interesting is when you get at least three people together, for I've participated in such "experiments," and it's so validating when more than one person sees the same thing.

While it's fine to undertake such experiments out of curiosity, pursuing them with a sincere desire to connect with and understand the Divine nature of life will tend to yield a higher level of experience. (If you're irreverent about it, your experience will match your vibration!) Grief counselors have noted remarkable results when such experiences are induced by or with the grieving. As they reconnect with their missing loved one, all their sorrow and pain seems to just spontaneously heal. For more information, I recommend you begin by exploring the books and research of Raymond Moody. He has made a new science of mirror gazing.

If you're longing to be visited by someone in Spirit, you don't have to wait around, hoping and wishing. Just as spirits can reach out to the living, we can reach out to spirits. Give it a try!

May new doorways of possibility continue to open to you!

- Julia