One of my earliest memories of having contact with spiritual beings while fully awake happened in high school. A couple of male friends and I went to a guided imagery meeting at a metaphysical bookstore called the Cosmic Connection.
There were about 20 of us in chairs and two women conducting the session. One was playing soft, spiritual music, while the other did the guided imagery.
She had us do some meditative breathing which put me in a very relaxed state. Next we were to imagine ourselves on a beach feeling the sunshine on our bodies. Okay, that was nice but nothing to write home about. Next she had us going to this carnival where we were supposed to get onto the carousel as it circled around and around. I found my connection to this image very strong and realized that I just felt very much “there.” Our next directive was to imagine we had a lance and we were supposed to use it to capture the gold rings as they passed by. I was getting my lance ready to do just that when something really strange happened.
An eagle flew up to me, keeping pace with me on the carousel. Here is roughly how our conversation ensued.
Eagle: Put the lance down and come with me.
Me: Huh? Who are you?
Eagle: I’m a guide sent to bring you to some others who need to speak with you.
Me: Uh, but what about the meditation? I’m supposed to get these gold rings with my lance.
Eagle: No. There’s little time as it is. There are some things you need to know and I need you to come with me now. Please climb onto my back and I’ll take you to the others.
Me: Er, alright.
I got off my carousel horse and climbed onto the eagle’s back. I held on to his feathers as we flew high and away from the meditation I was supposed to be doing to god knows where. I could still hear the woman guiding us through the meditation but it was like she was coming from farther and farther away.
The eagle brought me to this group of people who were simply standing on a mountaintop. They were dressed in white and gold robes. They smiled as I approached. I got off the eagle’s back and he flew away. The people smiled at me and said, “Thank you for coming.”
The next thing I know I can hear the woman at Cosmic Connection saying she is going to count from 1 to 10 and when she reaches 10 we are going to open our eyes and be all refreshed. I heard her reach 10 and I opened my eyes immediately. Everyone in the room was staring at me and I noticed some people were out of their seats. My friends were looking at me stunned. I was so confused I can’t even describe it. The woman playing the music looked at me and said, “Looks like someone is having a hard time getting back into her body.” More confusion. I was in a daze. I said nothing. We got up and left. One of my friends said, “What was that stunt you pulled back there? What were you trying to do?” I said, “Huh? I don’t understand what just happened. Why was everyone staring at me?” He said, “Because after she got to 10 and we all opened our eyes you just sat there with your eyes closed for 10 minutes.”
What?!?!
I said, “No, no, I opened my eyes as soon as she said 10.”
He said, “No you didn’t. We all opened our eyes and noticed you hadn’t. We were talking to you but you weren’t responding or saying anything. What were you doing? Couldn’t you hear us?” He actually seemed sort of angry at me, acting like I’d tried to steal the limelight or something.
I was flummoxed. I couldn’t understand what happened. But what he said put some pieces together for me. I apparently didn’t “come back” when everyone else did. But I have no recollection of that time at all. Where was my consciousness for those 10 minutes, and why could I still hear the guide counting to 10? What happened between when she said “10” and I opened my eyes?
My friends were acting like I’d done it on purpose and they were embarrassed and not speaking to me. I didn’t tell them about the eagle or the people I’d been brought to.
To this day I have no idea where I was or what I was doing in those 10 minutes. I suspect I was in the perfect state for my guides to reach me and they took that opportunity to tell me some things I needed to know. I just didn’t remember at the time.
I think this was one of my first experiences where my mind or soul was in one place while my body was awake in another. It hasn’t happened on too many occasions, though it did happen a few other times that I can recall.
I still wonder to this day what happened to me in The Cosmic Connection. Perhaps a cosmic connection of its own occurred in that back room. It was an amazing experience to me and I wish I had pursued it a little more.
