Visualities

One day a friend named Oscar told me he knew someone who needed design work done.

Her name was Judy. She and her friend Kathy came up with an idea for a guided meditation game called ‘Visualities.’

They needed help putting it together and I was intrigued with the concept. When she asked me to be part of a test group for the game, I gladly agreed.

So, there I was sitting at her dining room table with four people I didn’t know and Oscar.

We were all asked to pick one card each from two different decks. One deck was occupations, like teacher or mechanic or scientist. The other deck were various times like the 1st Century B.C., 1594 A.D., New Year’s Day 1951 and future times as well.

The idea was to look for a brief moment at the cards you’ve picked and to imagine what it might be like to be.. in my case, a Theologian in the year 2600. Then you put the cards down and you’re asked to do some relaxation exercises, like stretching, breathing deeply and closing your eyes.

Once relaxed, Kathy the moderator started into a script.

She asks you to imagine standing in a field of tall green grass. “The air is warm and there is a breeze blowing the grass around. The sky is blue and there are a few wispy white clouds.”

“You are standing there relaxed, waiting.”

You are told to look up to the sky. “There is a shiny bubble, slowly floating down from the heavens toward you. As it lands in the grass beside you, you’ll see that it is about your size. Step through and into the bubble, sit down and don’t be afraid.”

“This is your transport and it will safely take you to another time and place. Breathe slowly and deeply as it lifts off the ground and rises into the sky.”

I didn’t hear anything after that, but I continued to see.

The bubble lifted me up into the sky to an altitude that seemed like a good couple hundred feet. Then descended into what appeared to be the same green field from which I departed moments ago. I stepped through the bubble and back into this lush green field. I started instinctively walking in one direction as though my body knew where to go.

I saw a figure standing atop a pile of rocks and as I came closer, it was a young man. He was excited and happy to see me. He ran over and hugged me and I leaned over and hugged him.

I looked down at him and he looked up at me. We were both smiling and I felt warm inside.

I noticed that the pile of rocks looked like a wide stone staircase, the kind you might see in front of a big building. They were completely fractured with weeds and grass growing out of them and there was no building behind them, just a grassy hill.

He spoke quickly, grabbed my hand and pulled me through the field. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I felt emotion as though it were the grass in which we walked.

We passed the ruins of what must have been many buildings all reduced to piles of rubble and then I saw my hands. They didn’t belong to me. They were longer and bony and bluish.

My feet were clad in sandals and I wore a big robe with a hood like what monks might wear. I also had a gray beard.

No wonder why I realized these details as the moderator continued asking questions to the lifeless bodies slumped sideways in their chairs around that table.

I couldn’t hear those questions physically in my altered state of consciousness, but my mind somehow grasped them and a transfer occurred. What do your surroundings look like? What is happening? How are you dressed? What color is the sky?

My subconscious must have said, Color of the Sky... what kind of question is that?! Just then, I noticed that the sky was an orange, reddish color and I shook my head. My young friend saw the look on my face. He was puzzled.. and I smiled. He pulled me past a few trees and there was a gathering of people.

They all came walking toward us. Every one of them were smiling and I didn’t just feel warm.

It was so much more than that. There isn’t a word I’m aware of yet that can describe it. I hugged and shook hands with many people. I was just about overwhelmed by their feelings and emotions. It seemed as though they were waiting for me. Like I was a long awaited friend.

One of them asked me a question and I answered him. We all laughed! I had no idea what was being said, but I seemed to understand. I felt their fear and uncertainty, their happiness and sorrow, their love and compassion. We all walked along together and had a wonderful time talking, laughing and crying, smiling and living. Enjoying a wonderful day under beautiful orange skies.

Just then, a physical voice broke through the subconscious barrier. “Look up to the sky once more and you will see your transport approach, as the bubble…”

I was sad, and angry and I wasn’t ready to leave yet. Everything in my body said NO!

The voice instructed me to turn to my right and step into the bubble, but I resisted. I started turning left and I kept turning and turning and spinning in the opposite direction, and just then... It hit me like a ton of bricks. If I don’t do it, my body and spirit may never be reunited.

The thought of Judy not knowing what to do with my disconnected body was enough to push me into that damn bubble, and as it lifted off the ground, I waved to my friends with a heavy heart and tears welling up in my eyes. Who knows when I might see them again.

Our bodies were carefully awoken by Kathy. “You will start to feel your toes and feet first. Then feeling will work its way up your legs and into your body, your neck and your head.” We all tried to stand up with some difficulty, stretched and shook ourselves out.

All of us looked at one another with wild new eyes and the recollection of different, unique and incredible experiences which poured into our minds from other worlds.

We spent the next hour drawing furiously with crayons, illustrating scenes.

Sharing our experiences.