Dear Julia:

I had a past life reading several months ago and was told that Oscar Wilde (I'm NOT CRAZY!), is one of my helpers. The amazing thing is since grade school, I've been absolutely intrigued and inspired by Oscar. I feel a tremendous connection to him. I feel that he plays a part in my creative endeavors and in my healing work beyond the realm of mere inspiration. He came to me once in a dream; he was in the passenger seat of my car. He told me that I should write as well as some things I should let go of that were holding me back in life. I know this sounds strange, but I'm very curious about his influence on me. Do you believe this is possible?
Gabby

Dear Gabby:

I appreciate your skepticism; we've all heard stories about flaky New Agers claiming they were Cleopatra in a past life or are in regular communication with the spirit of Elvis. I think the startling coincidence you describe lends credence to the idea that Oscar Wilde is indeed guiding you from beyond this world. At the same time, it's possible that the reader plucked this notion from your own subconscious mind and read too much into it. In any case, the thing to watch out for here is your ego, for that is what will lead you astray. If you are attached to the idea that Oscar is your own personal spirit guide, then you will tend to summon evidence in support of this idea.

I'm in no way suggesting that this is impossible or even unlikely. Your question reminds me of a similar experience I had years ago that taught me a great deal about some of the subtler dynamics of spirit contact. At that time, I was psychically wide open and experiencing all sorts of amazing phenomena. I had also recently fallen in love with the music of Otis Redding, and felt so drawn to him that I researched his life story and learned how he had tragically died just before his music became really popular.

I found myself listening to his music and thinking about him all the time. Then one day I was driving in the car with Otis playing on the stereo when it hit me: the reason I was thinking about him all the time was because he was trying to come through to me! When I turned my attention to him, we had some lovely metaphysical interactions.

Like you, I was extremely skeptical, but when I consulted my regular guides, they explained to me that connecting with Otis was entirely natural, for by loving his music and appreciating his deeper nature, I had reached out to him with my heart and soul, which had drawn him close from the other side. As it turns out, we are not passive recipients of spirits' guidance: we can draw certain spirits close by giving them lots of positive mental and emotional energy.

When we are moved by a certain person's essence via something they created, we send our own soul energy out and bathe that person with our appreciation. It is therefore entirely natural to connect with the spirits of beloved musicians, poets, humanitarians and the like. Let's say that you're listening to a song that really stirs your soul, and you are just soaking up the beauty of that experience. This blissful appreciation is a pure form of prayer. When you're in that state, you can most clearly and directly connect with higher worlds, and your focus is like a beam homing right in on the creator behind whatever you're giving your loving attention to.

At the same time, however, it's important to be mindful of trickster spirits, for often earthbound entities will choose a famous person to impersonate because they know that this will grab our attention, make us want to talk to them, and perhaps instantly win our trust in their wisdom and benevolence. For example, many times when people play with Ouiji boards, someone supposedly famous will come through. Usually this is just some earthbound spirit who is desperate for an audience. Since information regarding their identity is taken from the subconscious minds of the living, these earthbound spirits can also pretend to be departed loved ones. So if you had a love of Oscar Wilde going into such an experience, that detail could be plucked out of your mind and used to win you over.

On the other hand, I believe the odds of someone like Oscar Wilde really coming through are much greater than most people would think, for people who were highly interested in philosophy and the question of life after death when they were living are precisely those who make extra effort to come through to us once they're on the other side. This is most remarkable in the case of EVP researchers who continue to reach through to the living once they are in the spirit world. It just makes sense that people who were of a highly intelligent, philosophical, and/or evolved spiritual nature while living would be most adept at spirit communication and also motivated to continue to help humankind kind after departing this world.

Some of the famous people who have been known to make extra effort to come through to us from the spirit world include John Denver, Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Thomas Edison was highly interested in spirit communication and worked hard to develop technology for this purpose, and he has been known to come through from the spirit world with advice on how to better affect inter-dimensional communication. The same is true of Konstantin Raudive, one of the greatest pioneers of EVP research.

Oscar Wilde can be added to this list, for there have been many others who claimed to be in contact with his spirit. Check out the book Writing Double by Bette Lynn London. The famous medium Leslie Flint also purportedly heard from Oscar, and there have been many others who claimed similar contact. Given this factor, it may be that Oscar is not your personal spirit guide, but instead, is simply be eager to communicate with humankind and is drawn to your psychic receptivity and interest in him.

On the other hand, the dream you described is quite telling, for often spirit guides show up in dreams right besides us. In fact, we often can't see them in dreams, we just feel their presence or know they are there. Dreaming of someone like this being in the passenger seat of the car often does suggest a spirit guide or the attachment of some other spirit that is traveling through life with us.

So how can you decide whether or not you can trust that spirits are who they say they are?

Above all, you must listen to your own intuition. To hear it clearly, you have to lift yourself above ego and use your God-given powers of discernment to evaluate the quality of the messages you receive. To remain objective, it would be wise to let go of needing to know for certain whether or not Oscar is your personal guide. As I see it, the former names of spirits don't really matter - what's important is the quality of influence others have over you, whether they're living here or in other worlds.

You can call this guide Oscar if you like, but if I were you, I'd keep his suspected identity to myself, for I can think of no purely positive reason for sharing this with the world. Further, just because someone was witty and famous when living doesn't mean they're the ultimate source of spiritual wisdom. There are all sorts of wonderful beings in the Universe, so we're wise to remain open to our needs being fulfilled through whatever channel best suits us in each moment.

- Julia