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Health & Fitness

The Thinning of the Veil

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year.  It's a bizarre season when we feel free to honor death as a natural part of life through macabre and witty decorations, costumes and celebrations.  We can alter our appearance to take on a whole new persona, and our children can roam the streets, meeting neighbors and friends and collecting sweet treats. 

For mediums and mystics, it's also the time when the veil between this world and the next is thinnest, and as such we will often take advantage of this time to communicate with spirit in various ways.

The Silent Dinner, or Dumb Supper, is a pagan tradition which honors our ancestors and deceased loved ones with the intention of silently communing with them.  In this tradition, participants will bring food to share which is served on completely black tableware.  As they are preparing for the gathering, the guests will silently invite any ancestors or loved ones in spirit to attend with them, and a place setting will be reserved in honor of these spirit guests. The participants will each write a prayer or message to their spirit companions which will be placed under the plate at the black-draped place setting, and any photos or mementos honoring those who have passed on will also be placed here, creating an alter to honor the dead.  

At this point in the ritual, all the participants leave the room briefly, and when they return, they create a sacred space through silence.  They fill up their plates with the shared food and while they eat, they focus on spirit and have a silent conversation with the departed ones present.  This continues until everyone has finished eating, then the leader motions for the guests to once again leave the room, and when they return, they are invited to speak and share any experiences they had.

When I conduct Silent Dinners in my Psychic Development classes, we add the extra fun elements of costumes, cameras and voice recorders. Costumes add a festive energy, reminding us that death does not have to be a solemn and sad occasion, since the spirit lives on.  We use cameras to snap pictures where we sense spirit energy, with the intention of capturing spirit orbs or other anomalies, and the voice recorders can sometimes pick up spirit voices. 

While the Silent Dinner ritual is a fun alternative to the traditional holiday celebration, it does not have to be confined to the Halloween or Samhain season. It is a festive and powerful way to honor and celebrate those who have passed, while helping us to deal with the idea of death. 

The tradition of the Day of the Dead on November 1 is another way to honor those who have passed through beautiful and festively adorned skeleton costumes, figures and treats. I will be celebrating this holiday with a party at the beautiful SoHa Arts Building at 1001 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, New Jersey. Participants are encouraged to come in costume and enjoy some delicious Mexican treats provided by the Tortilla Press in Collingswood.  From 6 PM to 7, guests can mingle, enjoy the food and tour the beautiful space, including the amazing new spaceship-themed SoHa Smart Studio.  A professional photographer will be on hand to capture you in your Halloween finery.  Then, beginning at 7 PM, I will conduct a Spirit Gallery, where I will use my skills as a medium to bring forth messages from spirit.  This is always a powerful and profound experience for all in attendance, even though not everyone is guaranteed to receive a message.

To join the growing crowd at this fun, festive and moving event, go to my website at www.SpiritLightPsychicServices.com to register.  The cost is $45 per person, which includes food, non-alcoholic refreshments and the Spirit Gallery.  Over 18s only, please!  This holiday event is for grown-ups only.

Please contact me at spiritlight@outlook.com with any questions. I hope to see you and your spirit companions on the Day of the Dead!

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