In 2024, a series of unusually precise dreams introduced an alpha-numeric matrix that set in motion an unexpected journey of self-discovery. It’s a story I’m not ready to fully tell yet. What I can share is that the structure revealed in those dreams became the foundation for what I now call the Cosmic Soul Chart—a framework that describes the soul’s expression through thirteen distinct gates.

Rather than remaining in the mystery of what had unfolded, I chose to honor it as a gift. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI) I was able to recognize underlying patterns within the dream chart and translate those patterns into the written word and beyond. The chart’s gates, in turn, became the first thirteen tracks of my most recent creative project, The Cosmic Soul Album.

Each gate track follows a progression that mirrors the chart itself—a movement from learning toward embodiment, and eventually toward sharing what has been integrated. My experience and understanding of the chart shaped lyrics, while AI opened a whole new story telling avenue of music and sound. The Cosmic Soul album would not exist without that collaboration.

The fourteenth and final song track arrived differently. It emerged during a spontaneous writing session in early spring of 2025. To say I was “inspired” doesn’t quite capture the experience; downloaded is closer. I could clearly read what I’d written by hand—which, for me, is a minor miracle—and the style didn’t reflect my usual voice. When I shared it with others, they noticed the same thing. Whatever moved through that moment felt unmistakably sourced from somewhere beyond my habitual voice. Even though it is not part of the Cosmic Soul chart, it made a perfect ending to the story told of its gates.

When listened to sequentially, the fourteen tracks trace the arc of a soul’s journey. When listened to individually, they simply meet the listener wherever they are. (The entire album can be found on Spotify, Apple, Pandora, iHeart, Amazon music, YouTube and more. Just search “C. Joan Baker” and my album shows up.)

So here is Track 1, The Genesis Gate. This song tells the story of the soul at the moment it begins to move toward experience. Not as an act of will, but as a natural turning—an inclination toward life, form, and expression.

To listen, just click the YouTube Music link below (though you’ll have to suffer through an ad first). Thanks for reading and listening.

Between August and December, I wrote a couple of new books—they are self-journey workbooks under the label Vibeology. AND I just received the opportunity to teach these classes at IN-PERSON workshops locally! So shout out to all my readers in and around the LOU who are into metaphysical subjects, as these classes may be right up your alley! And, it’s something to do this winter besides binging Netflix.

What the heck is Vibeology? It’s a blend of ancient wisdom, like feng shui and numerology. In late summer and early fall, I taught snippets of this information at the Chakra Healing Room in Wentzville, MO. But I’m taking it up an notch and teaching a more cohesive approach to these metaphysical subjects, thanks to Leslie and Stacie, co-owners of The Chakra Healing Room where I will be instructing. So here is a little info on the the upcoming courses for your consideration.

January Workshop

Starts January 4th! Sign-up deadline DECEMBER 31, 2024.

I have been a feng shui practitioner for 24 years (that’s longer than I have been golfing)! After formally training in the traditional teachings of feng shui, I spent my spare time analyzing homes and small commercial spaces. But now that I’m retired, I have a lot more flexibility to teach others how to apply the techniques to their own spaces, whether it’s a room, apartment, house, or office.

In January, I’ll be teaching a four-part series, called Feng Shui Foundations for Balanced Living course. My mission is to teach you how to apply traditional principles to harmonize yourself with your space. If you walk out with a good understanding of what to look for, how to apply it, and a copy of your own floor plan, then it’s a successful workshop! We’ll touch on best personal directions you can use for things like sleep, meditation, business. You’ll learn if you are compatible with your home, and if not, how to still have good feng shui! We’re going to create a floor plan, figure out the energy blueprint that was captured during the construction period and see if there is anything that might be causing issues in relationships, etc. I cover more than what’s in my new book, Vibeology: Five Feng Shui Practices to Sync Your Energy with Your Space.

If you can’t make the class, but interested in the subject, this new workbook teaches readers how to apply basic and some intermediate methods, without doing a deep-dive into the philosophy. (I tried to get directly to the methods without all the master chit chat.) However, in the classroom environment there is an opportunity to provide more information and instant feedback as you work your way through the exercises.

On average, I charge around $400 for a comprehensive feng shui reading because it usually involves client interviews, property research, graphic design, an on-site walk through, etc. to create a client’s custom analysis and implementation plan. However, the course is just $222, which covers 8 hours of in-person instruction, workbook and additional class materials.

This class is every Saturday 10 AM to Noon. You’ll receive the workbook, Vibeology: Five Feng Shui Practices to Sync Your Energy with Your Space, so don’t buy the book on Amazon ($14.99) if you plan on coming to the class as it is already included in the course price.

• Click Here To Register for the Feng Shui Foundations for Balanced Living Course.

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If you can’t make January’s session or not interested in feng shui, perhaps you might want to join me for the Vibeology class in February where we’ll switch gears and focus on the numbers behind YOUR birth chart and more!

February Workshop

Starts February 1st! Sign-up deadline January 24, 2024.

About 15 years ago, I was introduced to Pythagorean numerology. I recognized the similarities between some of the advanced feng shui methods and what’s taught in numerology, even though they stemmed from different cultures and points in history. For many ancient cultures, numbers were the key to understanding the universe. I began learning numerology methods independently, researching various practices and applying these methods to birth charts for friends and family.

In this workshop, you’ll explore your life’s journey through numbers, colors, and shapes, tapping into a variety of ancient wisdoms and exclusive Vibeology methods. The idea behind the workbook is to encourage people to view themselves from a different perspective—through the ancient wisdom of numbers, while learning to take the time for self-introspection. In the classroom setting, it’s an opportunity to also learn how to go within. Some of the exercises taught are also good for cognitive memory! Aside from the traditional view of your birth chart, we’ll use exclusive Vibeology exercises that include art, meditation, and journaling to help you understand how these numbers influence your life.

I do numerology readings and parties, but the size and scope are limited because it can be personally exhausting to do more than five 30 minute readings in a row! In this class, you are learning to read numbers so you can interpret your own chart, but I’ll be there to guide you in the process. This course also includes the newest release, Vibeology: Mapping Your Life’s Journey Through the Ancient Wisdom of Numbers (Available Jan. 6-$22) and is a full-color workbook and journal.

The February class, Numerology: Insights for Inner Discovery is Saturday 1 PM to 3 PM. You’ll receive the workbook Vibeology: Mapping Your Life’s Journey Through the Ancient Wisdom of Numbers. If you plan on coming to the class, don’t purchase the new book on Amazon because it’s included in the course price. The class is $233 for 8 hours and includes the workbook and other materials.

• Click Here To Register for Numerology Insights for Inner Discovery Course.

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Class Locations / Max and Min Capacities

Both January and February classes are head at the The Chakra Healing Room (950 Corporate PKWY, Wentzville, MO 63385). Both classes have a max capacity of 10 people. I will teach the classes as long as I have at least two participants. Both of these classes strictly focused on your personal feng shui plan or personal numerology journey.

If you have questions about the classes reach out to me!

A quick note…my newsletter name has changed to The Curious Archivist to reflect the potpourri of stories I typically write and share. It will be a monthly newsletter, but I may sneak in an extra edition if something new happens that you might be interested in—like someone finding that darn Picasso painting that disappeared from the Saint Louis Art Museum in 1973. The Good Vibrations section is still there, and this is where you will find stories connected with the Vibeology workshops and books.

Both meditation and lucid dreaming are two important tools we have at our disposal to help us disconnect from our overly-connected world.

Studies have shown that our ability to remember information has shortened over the century, but the advent of computers and mobile phones has accelerated the decline. Our neural pathways are being altered, cognitive abilities are declining, and attention spans are shortening.

Our social skills are deteriorating because of increased human interaction through technology. Social media is a mental health hazard, and no one seems to care enough to do anything about it. Anxiety is on the rise, and it’s pretty understandable how we got here.  Our digital addictions are hard to break since we have instant access to television, social media, podcasts, texting, etc. just about anywhere there is a wireless signal.

Since it is an election year, we can expect both parties to bombard us with political messaging intended to incite fear and anger, resulting in social media outrage. We are a society that is taking in information at such a high rate we forget our brains need a break from it all, especially the negativity.

Ironically, computer technology can also teach us something about ourselves. We have all probably experienced a phone or hard drive crash. If there is a lesson to be learned from tech storage, it’s that it needs to be cleared of junk and optimized to keep performing. Otherwise, it crashes the rest of the system.

Likewise, to prevent our brains from doing the same, we need a couple of strategies for optimizing our brains. Giving away our digital devices is not enough and, in many cases, not an option. But we can use lucid dreaming and meditation to help our noggins recuperate. Of course, we need to learn to do both, and we need to do them responsibly.

Meditation and lucid dreaming are tools that help us regain our cognitive ability, improve our attention span, and remarkably , access information that is hidden from our conscious mind.

Tool#1 Lucid Dreaming

Lucid dreaming occurs when we are sleeping and become aware we are dreaming during our dream. If you are dreaming and something bad is about to happen, and you realize you are in a dream, you can do something extraordinary, like gain superhuman strength, walk through walls, or wield a light saber like a Jedi Knight to change the outcome. We can also use lucid dreaming to purposely access information that we may be blocking ourselves from in the awakened state.

Though I can lucidly dream, I only recently discovered resources to use it to promote mental and physical health. Last Saturday morning, I actually had a lucid dream, and here is a taste of what it was like.

In the dream, I attended a business dinner with former colleagues. During the dinner, I was getting ready to talk about a set of cards I brought with me (the size of a poker deck). The cards contained a variety of topics to discuss at the table. But when I took them out of the tin container and sat them on the table, they accidentally were mixed up. As I tried to resort them in order, I was handed a glass bowl and told this is what the cards came in. At this point, I recognized that was not possible since they were in a tin. This was a signal to my brain that I was dreaming (a technique you have to learn to lucid dream). So, I began to actively move through the dream with intention, and the first thing I did was, walk through a wall, leaving the meeting to explore the rest of the building. It was a cool dream experience that abruptly ended with my husband’s alarm.

I am just starting to journal these experiences and hope to share more in future articles. That is, if I can figure out how to lucid dream long before the alarm clock sounds.

Tool#2 Meditation

While Lucid dream is done during sleep, meditation is done during the awake state. Meditation cuts through the mental clutter to gain insights, but it takes practice. It is a great tool to view any situation from the “observer” perspective, which helps defuse the thoughts that lead to anxiety and panic attacks.

My first experience with meditation started twenty years ago when I enrolled in guided meditation classes. I enjoyed the group class, at least until the shop closed. I also became busy with increasing job responsibilities and an active family. I didn’t have the self-discipline to schedule myself time to meditate daily. And when I meditated alone it didn’t have the same effect. I made the mistake of doing it right before bed, and usually just put myself to sleep.

In a guided meditation class, the instructor leads a small group of people into a relaxed state as a first step. Students are usually on a mat or sitting in a chair, or whatever feels comfortable.  Then the instructor will tell a story to help the students “visualize” a journey to a special place. The story is to give students a visual prompt, like “You're walking on the sands of a beach, you can hear the soft roar of the water...” to get the monkey mind from thinking about grocery lists, deadlines, and other daily mental clutter.  

Sometimes the intention of going to a special space is to let go of old thoughts or gain new insights. The instructor might tell you that you can meet someone in this space, perhaps a guide, an angel, or even a deceased relative. Guided meditation makes it easier to get to the “special” place (a visual creation of your own) to relax and reflect, even if the only intention is to sit alone and reflect on the day.

The hard part of a meditation experience is understanding whether the insights received are pure imagination or coming from a higher consciousness. I recently attended a guided meditation class and I had an unexpected experience. I became emotional which had never happened before. Besides being a bit embarrassed, I walked away more intrigued by the experience, at least enough to start pursuing meditation again with consistency.

It was not the first time I had a visceral experience in a meditation class, but it had been nearly twenty years since the last one. The last time I experienced something that made me curious about the higher conscious mind occurred after the meditation. One week in class, the instructor asked us to pick an individual destination— any location around the world—to go to during meditation. She guided us into the meditation, and then there was silence and each person in the class drifted off to their location of choice. My location was Arizona.

By this time, I consistently had unusual experiences during my meditation, but I had reservations about them being real or imagined. I had not been to Arizona, but we were planning to fly into Phoenix and then drive to Sedona to stay the following week. My vacation destination seemed to be the perfect choice to use in meditation practice. I could take the information I received in meditation and see if it made any sense once we got to Arizona.

Instead of the large red rocks of Sedona’s landscape, I saw a large, detailed portrait painting of a Native American chief in my meditation. The painting was square, but the image was a close-up of a chief’s head enclosed in a circle.

Despite traveling to plenty of local shops and nearby archeological Native American villages near Sedona, I found no painted chief that resembled the art in my meditation journey. On the last day of our trip, we hung around downtown Phoenix, waiting for a late flight back home.

June in Sedona was tolerable, but June in Phoenix was miserably hot.  My husband and I  decided to buy tickets to an air-conditioned museum before we became smelly tourists with no place to shower before our flight. At some point on our self-guided museum tour, I turned a corner into a low-lit hallway and saw the painting hanging on the wall. A giant portrait of a chief, enclosed in a circle on a square canvas. I was pleasantly surprised, excited, and perplexed all at once.

When we meditate it’s possible to access more than just our imagination.

Creating A Visual Sacred Space

Recently I started a new meditation routine. Some days I feel strongly connected to a higher source, and other days I feel that I am just daydreaming. Learning the difference between the two is a skill that requires practice, and something I am still working on. (Some teachers say daydreaming is a meditative state…but I’m not convinced the content is important as the process.)

My meditation always begins with a simple request for protection (we’ll talk about this in a couple of minutes). I then visualize my favorite location, which I created in my mind. It’s a forest path that goes up a gentle slope to a clearing. I visualize my dog (who crossed over seven years ago) running to me on the soft grassy path. The path leads to a cabin sitting in an open area of the forest. I see and hear a babbling stream that runs parallel to the path. Sometimes I go to the stream, sometimes I go inside the cabin, and most recently, I added the Tree of Life behind the cabin and a tire swing to sit on.

These are all visuals I have created and use repeatedly as a tool to meditate to get to a relaxed state and block out distractions. There are no rules about what your sacred space should look like, since it is up to the individual. I chose the forest and nature because this is where I would normally go to relax or to clear the mind.

To help with visualization, I usually put on headphones and play nature sounds as a way of holding that visual and creating sound memory. (Something to try if you have problems meditating.) I try to invoke all senses to generate as much detail as possible.

Visualization is a great tool to use to calm an anxious mind. If I am stuck on a problem, for example, this is a great place for me to look at the issue as an observer which usually results in seeing a problem from a new perspective.

Meditation doesn’t have to be a blank space described as the place the Yogi’s and Monks go to be “present” in nothingness. I know me. The closest I will get to a blank mind is passing out after several shots of Vodka and a glass of wine. (Neither are recommended for meditation.)

An Unexpected Connection

When meditating in my mental sacred space, there are times I will get a flow of information. Honestly, I don’t have a way of verifying if this is just imagination, higher consciousness, or some external source. However, I had an experience that seemed more than just a coincidence.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and before I got to my forest path, I heard the name Mark in my head. This is the first time this has happened. For brevity, I will skip the details of the middle where I go to my visual place. On the way out of my meditation, after I left the path, and began to wake up, I heard Mark 147 in my head. Since this has never happened, I decided to investigate further.

I haven’t been to church in many, many years except for the occasional wedding and funeral. I am not a bible scholar, nor do I spend my Saturdays knocking on strangers’ doors reciting scripture. But, being raised Catholic, Mark 147 sounded like a Gospel verse, so I Googled Mark 1:47 on my phone. It instantly returned Mark 15 1-47 at the top of the page. (It turns out, there is no Mark 1:47).

Mark 15 1-47 is the story of Jesus being delivered to Pilot through his crucifixion and death. This story sometimes referred to as the “Passion of Christ” covers the events before Jesus’s death. It might seem random if it weren’t for the fact it occurred on Holy Saturday. [Holy Saturday is the day many Christian-based faiths associate Jesus lying in the tomb. It’s the day after Good Friday, when Jesus died, and the day before Easter Sunday, the resurrection of Christ. ]

I shared this experience with my sister who belongs to a bible study group. My sister’s response was it came from the Holy Spirit. She was unaware that I started my meditation that day by asking the Holy Spirit for protection.

Is it plausible that meditation (just as prayer) is a way to connect humans to other information, just like a computer connects to the cloud? Probably the most well- documented case in the States was Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 - January 3, 1945), born in Hopkinsville, KY.

Cayce was a psychic healer, American mystic, and devout Christian. He was often referred to as the “Sleeping Prophet.” Cayce is perhaps best known for his purported ability to enter into a trance-like state and access information about a wide range of subjects, including health, spirituality, reincarnation, ancient civilizations, and future events. What he received was sometimes in conflict with his own Christian beliefs, but he accepted his spiritual gifts and became a healer.

Cayce's psychic readings, which he conducted while in a trance and often in front of witnesses, covered diverse topics, but he gained particular acclaim for his diagnoses and prescriptions for various ailments. He claimed to be able to tap into a universal consciousness, which he referred to as the "Akashic Records," to access this information.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Cayce's readings was his holistic approach to health, which emphasized the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit. He advocated for treatments that included diet, exercise, spiritual practices, and the use of natural remedies. Many people sought out Cayce's guidance for health issues when conventional medicine had failed them.

Cayce tapped into another source. Many people who have had near-death experiences also say that when they were on the other side, they had an instant knowledge of everything. Before they could finish asking a question, the answer arrived telepathically. Many reported learning a lot during their short time on the other side but could not recall the information when they returned to the body, and perhaps this speaks to the limitations of the human brain. And this brings me back to the traits humans share with computers.

The Lesson of Computers

I think we can all agree the human body is an intelligent design. Now, imagine that the human form operates like a human intelligent design, the computer. A new computer can access what it contains internally on its hard drive but is limited by its programming, size and needs a human operator.

Let’s compare computer hardware (i.e., operating instructions, hard drive, and memory processing) to the human brain. The brain has specific operating instructions (our biological protocols) that control our body’s operations.

Like a hard drive, the brain contains the ability to store information, but it has a limit. However, a computer can access additional information outside of its shell through a network path connecting to the internet, accessing cloud data, websites, etc. Cayce demonstrated this in human form, creating a wireless connection to a broader source of information.

If the human body is the hardware, and the soul is the operator, then meditation and dream states might be the network access to information outside of its shell.

This could also explain why people with near-death experiences had such an instantaneous flood of knowledge— perhaps an NDE was like a fiber-optic connection to a universal data source. Also, when people with NDEs returned to their bodies, they claim to not be able to remember all of what they learned on the other side. Maybe they didn’t forget, perhaps it was simply not possible to maintain that much data in the brain. They connected to a much larger database just like when we get online to search data stored in the cloud.

Okay, so this might sound like a crazy theory from a writer who may have spent too much time daydreaming as of late, right? Well, consider this:

Humans created artificial intelligence (AI), producing prototype robots that look and act like humans so that one day they will quickly access vast information and frankly, do some work more efficiently than humans. If humans are created in the image of God, who is to say humans are not mimicking the creator’s work with AI?  

If we could create something as sophisticated as a human cyborg that can instantly act on a library of earthly knowledge, it’s not so hard to fathom a universal creator having endowed humans with the same ability. Certainly, the human body is a far greater design than the computer, and we know what a computer is capable of doing.

So maybe the millions of people around the world who use meditation to seek internal or external guidance shouldn’t be brushed off as day dreamers or heretics. Just because their experience doesn’t fit into someone else’s personal beliefs doesn’t mean the experience is not genuine. Everyone’s reality is created from their own, different set of experiences.

Connecting Advice

If you can understand the parallels between a computer and a human, then it’s not a stretch to consider the possible implications of connecting to an unfamiliar external source via meditation. Anytime a computer connects to an external source there is a potential threat lurking to harm the computer system. Firewall protocols, anti-virus software, and common sense are there to sidestep identity thieves, cyber hijackers, and viruses. The bad players are just waiting to take advantage of those that don’t take precautions.  

Similarly, meditation is taught with lessons that demonstrate the possibility of similar risks. Before meditating, almost any teacher will explain it is important to protect the self through a grounding prayer and good intentions. Even if you don’t think it’s possible to connect to ANY energy source, why take a chance?

I went into my meditation that Holy Saturday with no expectations. I followed a simple routine, that included protection, and ended up having an unexpected experience. Even though I consider it a good experience, it was an unintended connection. And that means if the experience was real, it is better to be safe and follow a meditation protocol for protection. Besides, I still have nightmares about the movie, The Exorcist, and forever will be overly cautious.

If you want to disconnect from the world, try meditation, but follow the computer analogy: don’t connect to the dark web or go online unprotected.

The meditation and lucid dreaming benefits outweigh the risks at a time when our brains are being pushed to the limits through an overly sensory world of being connected through tech. Meditation is shown to improve our cognitive processing, memory, creativity, and other health benefits. It is a healthy remedy in a time when human technology is hijacking our brains.

Once the roof is enclosed, that’s is when the energy is said to be enclosed in the home.

Need me to explain that feng shui logic?

A little background information is required to understand how this energy lock happens. First, a building is considered to have a unique energy blueprint based on the sitting and facing direction. The energy that is bombarding the earth at the time the roof is placed on a property is considered to be permanently captured into the space. Using the solar period (e.g. cycle) the roof was attached and the magnetic direction of the property, a map (a.k.a. energy blueprint) is calculated to identify the natural flow of the magnetic energy within the property.

The energy blueprint is divided into nine-grid square (or rectangle). Eight grids are directional areas (NW, W, NE, S, N, SE, E, S), and the ninth is the central area, or the heart of the energy. Each solar cycle lasts about twenty years and is part of a Great Cycle which lasts 180 years. Hence, there are nine-solar cycles in one great cycle. (The twenty-year cycle roughly follows the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.)

The energy block is created when earth enters into a new solar cycle, and there is a conflict between the new cycle and the part of the central grid that governs prosperity or physical-being.

Since energy constantly fluctuates it actually gets stuck more frequently if looking at the mini-cycles (hours, days, months, etc.), but these are usually ignored because the impact is negligible. Most practitioners focus on the larger twenty-year cycle, and to a much lesser extent, the annual cycle. An annual-cycle with a block is not as strong since it will only last a year, whereas a twenty-year cycle means it should be addressed so there is no long-term effect on the people that occupy the home or office.

The technical term for this energy is a lock, and there are methods for unlocking a space that has this condition. However, I use the term “block” since most people can identify with the feeling of being stuck in a rut or having a bad streak of luck. Annual energy blocks could show up as money being tight, or sudden health or relationship issues that appear. But if it lasts twenty years, it could take a toll on the occupant. This is why a feng shui practitioner would advise a client to have it corrected.

Every building eventually goes through this issue, but the timing is different based on the home’s unique pattern. As we begin to go through a new cycle, the impact may not be immediate. It could begin slowly and increase over time.  Increased health, relationships, financial, or career problems may be signs there is some sort of block in your living or working environment.

Placing a sizeable fountain outside the home that includes clean, moving water can help release stuck energy. During the current cycle (2024-2043) there are beneficial locations to place water, and there is a specific place that you want to avoid because it can impact your finances or your health negatively. In this new period, having a water feature in the south is said to hinder financial opportunities. Of course, water fountains are easier to move than pools. And rivers, creeks, or roads (virtual rivers) are impossible to move.

A water feature is commonly recommended for outside the home to release the stuck energy, though there are other methods that are more practical. These do require a little deeper analysis, but placing a portable water feature inside the home to help unblock the energy is far more acceptable than calling the city and asking them to reroute the creek that’s running though the southern part of the yard.

Here is what I don’t like about Feng Shui.

Setting the textbook solutions aside, I also want to express a personal opinion about some feng shui corrections. Yes, this is a Feng Shui rant. Some of the “bigger” energy issues identified with a property require highly impractical solutions. If the client cannot afford to make the correction, then practitioners are told not to reveal the problem since it will create unnecessary worry for the client. If a rich client has a major issue, does this mean it’s okay to tell them to spend a fortune installing an expensive water feature to correct an energy lock they can’t see? Feng shui is less influential to one’s life than destiny and luck, so if it’s relegated that low on the “influence” chain, why does anyone need a drastic solution?

While I do think that feng shui has value in understanding one’s environment, I can’t help conclude it also has a few techniques for correcting a space that are not only impractical, but no longer applicable in the modern world. A thousand years ago, people could easily move the hut closer to or away from water, without hiring real-estate agents and getting construction permits. Telling someone their home has the worse feng shui energy ever and expecting them to sell it on that assessment alone doesn’t fly in the Western world.

The most practical lessons I learned in feng shui were to use the five senses when entering a space to identify what is wrong. Observe how the energy flows inside and outside of a property. Listen for offending sounds. Smell or taste the air to detect offensive odors. Use touch to identify things that may harm an occupant, like thorny bushes and sharp edges. And look for overgrown trees and badly placed headboards are just a few examples of using the senses. Still, I think there two more senses not taught in feng shui, but badly needed.

The Sixth Sense. Considering that feng shui deals with energy, it’s a little puzzling why intuition is not part of the classical teachings. Intuition protected our ancestors from dangerous prey. Humans still have it, though it’s gone dormant since beastly predators are not hanging out in metropolitan areas waiting to pounce on packs of humans exiting commuter trains. Still, intuition does rear now and then as that “gut” feeling when something is wrong. And when we listen to it, it’s usually for the better. Sure, it might not be as predictable as the movement of the stars, but that doesn't make it completely useless either.

Of all the senses used in 4000 B.C.E (the oldest known recording of feng shui symbols) it would seem the sixth sense would have been a big one for someone who was hailed as a Master over energy, and the highest advisor to the ancient Chinese dynasties. The secret teachings were typically passed orally in poems, from a master to a chosen apprentice. Feng shui knowledge was so revered at the upper crust of society, it was forbidden to be taught to the common population.

Eventually feng shui was outlawed and feng shui master’s fled to the ranks of the commoners, where they applied their techniques to benefit poor people. During my formal classes, I was told this is most likely when the cultural icons, superstitions and religious symbols became erroneously mixed into feng shui practices. People observed the corrections, not understanding the process. For example, someone could have thought a silver dragon statue brought balance to the space because of the dragon symbol, when in fact it was the silver content. So it seems plausible that intuition, which is not observable, was possibly a sixth sense that accidentally vanished out of the knowledge base.

The same logic that explains how wrong things were incorporated could easily explain how other things were accidentally left out, and why some things may no longer be applicable to the modern world.

If it feels like money has slowed or health has weakened it could be the inherited energy in your home or office building is being affected by the change in energy cycles that began February 2024. It also could be a host of other things not related to the energy in the property, like inflation or a new virus. Any feng shui adjustment is meant to support the occupant favorably, but it can’t take away the ills of the world. But I’m pretty sure if I told you to install a pricy water feature outside the home to unlock the space, your mental health and bank account might suffer, which is contradictory to the reasons for installing the feature in the first place. This is called common sense, the seventh sense that should be put back into feng shui practices.

In suburban life,  most people enter through an attached garage or an alternative entry near parking. As we enter a home we are “activating” or stirring up the type of energy in which the door is located within the home. Personally, my entrance from the garage happens to be in a better pattern than the front door. I gladly reserve the main entrance for guests, while my family spends their time entering and exiting through the laundry room to the garage.

For one specific client, the garage entrance and traffic pattern activated an unfavorable energy pattern. This energy pattern was known for increasing the chances of car accidents, lawsuits, and arguments.

The client said since moving into the home all of the occupants have been involved in accidents. She also noticed that when arguments occurred, it seemed to be in this same area. This high-traffic area started through her garage entrance and continued into the kitchen and breakfast areas to fully enter the home. Before moving into this home she had not been in a car accident during her driving career, and since moving into this home it has happened more than once to her, and the other occupants.

One of the reasons I like sharing this case is the client recognized something had changed when they moved. Aside from an increase in accidents, she noticed behavior changes in her family. One of the best steps towards improving one’s life is simply recognizing a change and the timing of it. Moving to a new home is a big one. Those changes could bring a sense of peace, or a unexpected challenges.

Sure, it could be no more than a streak of bad luck meant to teach a life lesson. But don’t rule out bad feng shui. Feng shui is usually manageable.

Our human brains naturally seek patterns and answers for why something could be happening. However, if there is no major event trigger (like a recent move) then it likely is something not visible or perhaps it is hiding in plain site, but we don’t realize the potential impact. Sometimes a shift in a natural energy cycle becomes the catalyst for bad energy. Earth’s natural magnetic energy shifts and after a period of time it can throw the energy in the home out of whack.

Other triggers could be recent construction or home renovations, inside or outside the home. This includes digging, knocking down walls and even painting with bright colors. Was a water-feature recently added or removed? Have your trees become overgrown? If it is hard to make the connection between the trigger and a series of behavior changes or bad luck, it might be time to seek a practitioner. Sometimes it takes a set of fresh eyes that know what to look for and to pinpoint what is really going on at home.

I walked around the first property and noted her back patio had a small yard facing another home that sat uncomfortably close, and at a higher elevation. Anytime a building feels too close and is overshadowed by another structure, the occupants in the lower space will feel uncomfortable. Many of us enjoy the backside of the home as a quick, quiet retreat for chilling out after a busy day. The client felt hers lacked the peacefulness she desired, and it inspired her to move.

The second home was backed to a spacious, scenic area of a golf course. The fairway was far enough away to enjoy the view without worrying about her home being pelted with errant golf shots. The small change in scenery from her patio was enough to compel her to go through the hassle of selling, packing, and moving down the street.

What the client didn’t know was the two homes had the same energy blueprint. The energy blueprint is the map the practitioner calculates using the building’s sitting and facing direction and construction year. The key difference between these two homes was a flipped floor plan. This meant key rooms in the home would naturally fall into different areas the feng shui map, yielding different results.

In this example, the first home’s master bedroom and office were in the section of the map with strong influences for arguments, fights, and illnesses. Since most people spend time in these two areas when they are at home, these are critical spaces for a practitioner to evaluate and if necessary, offer a simple solution. However, she had already purchased the new home before my evaluation. She briefly shared her relationship troubles in her first home, one that ended not long before she moved. The client had made a better choice for her second home since her new master bedroom and office were no longer in the problem areas of the feng shui map.

The energy analysis taught in feng shui schools can come across as rigid diagnoses of a space. However, practitioners have to consider much more about the home and the client. If the same type of argument energy in this client’s bedroom existed in a lawyer’s office, it would be interpreted as good for the lawyer’s business. In this case, the rules are bent knowing a lawyer argues for a living. So, did the first home argument energy cause the relationship problem? If it were a rocky relationship already then perhaps it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. And if so, was it really a bad thing? Perhaps she needed that kind of energy to motivate a needed change. Feng shui has a lot of gray areas which don’t always come across in course instruction or do-it-yourself books.

I think the real lesson in this case starts with the client. She felt uncomfortable in her own home, and the backyard didn’t give her the peace she desired. Most people spend years leaving a mechanical life, falling into our daily routines, and failing to recognize when they are uncomfortable in their own space. We become so wrapped up in the course of “doing” that we never take time to really evaluate whether our homes are providing more than shelter.

I can hear my parents’ voices say, “be thankful you have a roof over your head.”  We can all show gratitude for the things we have and at the same time try to make the best of what we have, instead of throwing up our arms and surrendering to the cards we have been dealt. Sometimes you have to work with what you got, which is always better than giving up on the space.

Here's an experiment you can try at home or work. Sit in a specific room for a while and contemplate what it feels like. If it is an office, do you feel focused or scattered? If it is the back porch, do you feel refreshed or anxious? Does the area that is supposed to be “relaxing” actually feel relaxing? A bedroom is the dedicated space for rest and rejuvenation, but sometimes it does not feel comfortable.

If any area feels off, then ask yourself is it something about the space you can identify with your senses. If not, it could be the energy in space is off and might need a simple improvement. I am a big fan of rearranging furniture to see if the space feels better. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I just get a good workout after moving it back. But in all cases the exercise will help you feel the subtle differences in energy so you understand what feels right for the area.

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When I was a kid, we called it “going outside and playing with your friends” and that’s what I intend to do in the Spring and Summer, weather permitting. I’m an old Gen-Xer, with Greatest Generation parents, Boomer siblings, and raised two Gen-Y kids. While us Gen-Xers claim rights to being told to “play outside, drink water from a garden hose,” and fetch Mom a pack of smokes from the Site station on the corner of Broadway, Boomers had similar childhoods. The truth is each generation has shared-experiences with the one adjacent to them, but it is the subtle changes that occur that end up creating future generational gaps that will be wielded as weapons against each other.

We survived dangerous crossings on busy roads while running parental errands on our banana-seated bikes, some fashioned with hand brakes. Boomers did it on old Schwinns. We were both Door-Dash before Door-Dash, and our newer bikes didn’t have a major effect on the generation gap.

However, one subtle difference between Boomers and Gen-Xers is we played a live version of “Frogger” dodging 5 O’clock traffic on the way to the arcade. Frogger happened to be one of my favorite video arcade games, and while it may not seem impactful to another generation, it actually represents a Gen-X trait that proves we are not really the lost generation.

Humor me for a few moments while I explain my definition of Generational Evolution.

Recently, a five-year-old girl on her bike, riding in the middle of our street gave me the stink eye for driving our car on her road. In my neighborhood, kids are rarely seen in a backyard. Playing in the front yard, driveway, and street is the new norm. On most days you’ll see parents stare down drivers as they make their way to and from home.

Times have changed. We played in the streets, sans parental approval. And if someone ratted us out for playing in the street, a parent scolded us for being disrespectful to drivers, neighbors or anyone that was inconvenienced by our street play. If we got hit by a car, while playing in the street, it was our own damn fault according to our parents. That was their way of saying it was unsafe, indirectly, but more importantly, we need to be self-reliant and make smarter decisions before we do something stupid.

Neighbors still air grievances about the neighborhood kids cutting through lawns, knocking over trashcans or driving motorized mini-bikes on their driveway. But something has changed. Aside from the complaints being aired on HOA social media platforms, there is a new plot twist: the kids are the victims.

Sure, there was always that parent who saw no wrong in their child’s behavior. And there was always that neighbor who complained about the kids because they hated everyone. But disrespecting someone else’s property was rarely acceptable behavior when we were kids, even if your parents thought the neighbor was a complete jerk. The difference being, we knew not to do it, and we knew the consequences for doing it, even if we did it. Our parents rarely went out of their way to defend our behavior because they knew, that we knew it was wrong.

So, when people complain to the HOA about the neighborhood kids violating the rules, and parents respond to the complaint by berating the neighbor as being non-neighborly for complaining, who is the real Karen here?

For example, it’s currently acceptable for parents to display bright orange folding signs on lawns to remind neighbors and guests in the subdivision to “drive like your kids live here” so their kids don’t get hurt playing in the street. When little Johnny illegally drives a golf cart erratically down the street, or Susie and her friends trample someone else’s lawn as a shortcut, is it wrong to have a sign that says, “F##k-around and find out?” I’m asking for a friend.

To those that say don’t be a Karen, I can only respond in the retort of my generation: “Don’t be a Dick.” Which is also one more subtle difference that proves generations evolve, and any perceived disparity shows up every third generation. Let me explain.

Being a Karen, as opposed to a Dick, is an example of generational evolution. It has an air of equality to it, though certainly its not the progress Gen-X women aspired too. I have a lot of friends named Karen, so I say to all boomer and gen-x Karens, don’t worry too much. Soon, Karen will be off the hook as Zoomers (Gen-Z) take to social media and demand we adopt a non-binary term to call out the Karens and Dicks in a gender-friendly way. I’m ahead of the game on this one and propose, “Don’t be an asshole.” It’s timeless and up-close, all those assholes look alike. Problem solved.

No generation evolves with a new attitude, rule change, or outlook without the influence of a previous generation. Sometimes, it just takes a whole generation to come into their own before the generations that raised them realize they may have created a monster. And, ironically, no one wants to admit that whatever they hate about the new generation is probably a bi-product of one or more previous generations.

Each generation is known for something good or bad. Gen-X is mostly known for, well, not being known. We are the smallest populous bunch squeezed between millennials and boomers. We don’t have a catchy label, like “boomer”, because we are supposedly lost. But that’s impossible in generational evolution.

What people call generational traits (a defining distinction of a generation) is often no more than rights-of passage that come with age. And, they may not look the same as your generation, but in disguise they are fundamentally the same. Here is what I mean. The social media memes are full of “okay grouchy boomer” and “damn lazy millennials”.

Eventually, everyone gets old and will bitch about the state of the world, random muscle pains, and the cost of gas. It is a God-given right after the age of fifty, so let’s be clear—boomers do not own the crab-ass trait, that’s transgenerational. Cm’on, you’ve seen the boomers' parents, right, the Greatest Generation? They survived multiple wars, the Great Depression, and wore white pants on streets made of dirt, then used a rock to beat off the stains. They were super cranky and displayed it as a badge of honor. Why do you think Boomers and Gen-Xers didn’t argue about having to play outside all day?

And really, are all millennials “lazy”? I know it is not completely true as I happen to know some hard working millennials. If they seem less motivated than past generations, it’s because things were different for them as kids like every other generation. But, every generation called their offspring or, the grand offspring LAZY. Flower-power children of the sixties labeled themselves pacifists. Their parents labeled them lazy. Most grew up and got their shit together. And if there is one common trait among all generations, it’s parents who instill upon their offspring the need to actually get their shit together.

As an older Gen-Xer who raised two Gen-Y kids, I admit we may have made it harder for their perceived transition to adulthood. And this logic will also hold true for the parents raising Gen-Z kids. We allowed time for them (and their friends) to play indoors. We also introduced them to video games. Don’t forget, we were the original gaming generation. And street play? We moved to neighborhoods with courts so they could experience the fun of playing in the street safely.

We wanted them to have the fond memories of playing hockey or tag in the streets. Who would have thought our kids liked it so much, they expanded those rights to the entire street as parents? It’s hard to complain without being a hypocrite. We would have played in the street more if old man Withers wasn’t always calling the cops. And, who knows, if a faceless media platform like Facebook existed between 1970 and 1990, maybe parents would have ranted on the crabby neighbor too, even if it wasn’t deserved. When the shoe is on the other foot (i.e., we are adults with property) we finally understand the desire for having our property respected.

Let’s face it. Some of which annoys the hell out of us about today’s generation actually is a byproduct of decisions made two generations ago. We bought the game consoles for our kids with every intention of playing it when they went to bed because we were the earliest video gamers. For the same reason Gen-Y kids became hooked on video games, Gen-X kids became TV addicts. Our parents used TV as a babysitter when we were left home alone, or as a distraction to keep us out of their hair.

By the time we became parents, our Gen-X childhood dreams came true: hundreds of TV channels were at our disposal. This included the 24-hour news channels that repeatedly explained our kids were in danger of pedophiles, gunfire, and rabid mountain lions that were migrating to the burbs. On top of this wildcard scenario, we remembered all the crazy shit we (and our friends) survived under our own supervision.

We provided conveniences we didn’t have as kids. Like, more than one bathroom in the house. We tried to create the welcoming environment we didn’t have, and deployed what we knew (technology) to create a home we could live in amicably with our offspring since letting them roam the streets at will no longer seemed like a good parenting choice. We had no idea it had the potential to completely backfire. Many millennials left the nest long after they reached the legal drinking age, not because they were all lazy. We sent the message that it was their home too.

If there is one aspect of the Gen-X life that changed how we went about our adult lives was our self-reliant upbringing, intertwined with ever-changing technology. Video gaming systems being just one example. We are the most adaptive generation of all—the original transformer. Think about it: every other year in our life was about adapting new tech. It happened in gaming, music, television, computing and overall communications. This is an example of why our generational trait should be redefined as “the chameleon.”

As a kid, my “Greatest Gen” parents had a 35 lb.-standard-issued black rotary phone hardwired into the wall, the kind exploited as a murder weapon on Columbo episodes. The biggest phone tech change from 1930 to 1970 was the unpluggable telephone line, push buttons and 100 ft. receiver chords.

Gen-X experienced the old style phones, but then we were introduced to wireless phone receivers at home, and soon after, the mobile phone arrived.

My first mobile, was a chorded-phone hooked to a black murse (man-purse bag) with a built-in wireless receiver and battery charger. The first time I “cut the chord” was when I upgraded that phone to the big, hand-held, walkie-talkie-style device. It looked like I was always calling in an air strike from the convenience of my car. And in the last two decades, my cell phone became small enough to fold in my pocket, before becoming big enough to have a keyboard. Then, our jobs demanded we be connected 24/7 (the worse decision ever).

The evolution in phone adaption is true for many boomers, but the subtle generational difference is that Gen-X adapted technology early, often and mostly with ease because we were the earliest beneficiaries of video arcades, game consoles, Sony Walkman’s and cable tv. We were not afraid of tech and often were self-taught because it was kryptonite to our parents. My mom refused to use the remote control on the VCR for two years as if pointing it the wrong direction could obliterate the television. Technology continued to advanced and we continued to adapt. Eventually, everything we grew up on, like personal computers, video games, tv and portable music was rolled into our dream gadget…smart phones.

It goes without saying the icing on the cake was seeing our Jetson dreams come true in our lifetime. The Jetsons first aired in 1962, but Gen-X Saturdays were nothing but 1960s reruns, so we have a bond with George, Elroy, Jane, Judy and Astro even if they were born Boomers.  George Jetson’s cool watch phone/TV was our dream timepiece. Jane’s video calls and the fake faces she wore to make herself look better on screen, were just our early introduction to Zoom and digital filters. Soon we will have our own Rosie the Robot to clean our toilets, open our wine bottles, and cook us a gourmet dinner, or that box of Kraft Mac and Cheese we still consider a classic meal.

So please, stop calling Gen-X the “lost generation.” We are not lost. We were raised to be chameleons. We are the adaptive-generation, the technological link between the boomers and millennials. We were helping grandparents use VCRs, boomers work a computer mouse, while reintroducing our kids to Star Wars, and bonding with them over video-gaming. When we get to the retirement home, we’ll be the ones drinking from the catheter hoses, not because we like it, but because of our prolonged exposure to lead paint in our toys. Plus, we can MacGyver a straw out of anything, which will be an important skill because chances are our offspring petitioned the home to have paper straws.

The law of generational evolution is this: we all know each generation did things they wished they could take back, like encouraging street play, introducing social media, or watching cable tv news. And I’m convinced using digital media to build a base of friends and fans, instead socializing the old fashion way (in-person) is the future regret of another generation. It will not be mine, but rest assured, it didn’t happen overnight. That is generational evolution at work.

PLEASE NOTE: This chameleon is going to go outside to play (March to September) so The Rabbit Hole will go to a once-a-month newsletter. Like my golf game, it’s delivery will be inconsistent, but I will aim have a decent showing one of those Tuesdays each month.

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Eastern mysticism views consciousness as part of this energy, and there are some scientists willing to consider this theory. Many religions refer to this energy as the soul. Whatever name it goes by, there is no greater proof than the empirical evidence provided by numerous people with near-death experiences (NDEs).

Over the past couple of months, I have been digging into published interviews with people who have died and been brought back to life. A contingent of scientists (medical doctors, psychologists, etc.) believe that NDEs are simply chemical reactions of the brain or based on psychological elements that play a crucial role in shaping the subjective interpretation and meaning of the NDE experience. The medical field often presents these theoretical explanations because they cannot accept what patients have reported after being resuscitated, waking up from a coma, or some other non-responsive state. It doesn’t jive with their medical training. But, for doctors who have had near-death experiences, it completely changes their minds. (Read Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife.)

What is hard to dispute are the cases where people have provided verifiable details they shouldn’t have known while they were flatlining, brain dead, or medically unresponsive. The near-death experience is an out-of-body experience (OBE) usually brought on by some sort of physical trauma. From this vantage point, they gained the information they should not have known while in this condition. These experiences provide a glimpse into the connectedness of all of us.

In my experience, a person doesn’t necessarily have to die to realize we are more than our biological makeup, but those who do seem to better understand the universe. People who go into deep meditation have reported being able to create OBEs with consistent practice. I am not that dedicated to meditation to ever have one on demand. Yet, I had a few accidental OBEs when I was a teenager, and not sure if I want to purposely attempt to create one at my age. Like many NDE reports, I too remember leaving my body and then seeing myself from above it. In my case, I was sleeping on the living room couch, not suffering some sort of physical trauma.

On hot summer nights, the green couch became my bed because it was the only air-conditioned space in our home.  I can still remember looking down at my sleeping body as I floated above it, fully aware of the experience. This happened again, a few months later, while staying at my sister’s house. In each case, the family dog jumped on me, jolting me back into my body. (A quirky fact was my sister’s dog, Patio, was the mother of my dog, Wally Bear, and each put me back into my body.)

Both of those OBEs were quickly followed by the opening of a spiral tunnel that I could see. Up until this point in my life, OBEs and spiral tunnels were not part of my vocabulary. But they are very much part of the vocabulary of those who have had NDEs. But I didn’t die in my sleep. And, if the spiral tunnel wasn’t strange enough, the first OBE ended in the most bizarre vision, dream, or meeting…something I’m still not sure how to categorize and explain.

We are more than our biological vessels or the roles we take on during our lifetime. Some people believe this purely on religious faith, and others will live a lifetime and never believe it, no matter what the evidence presented. But I think most of us inherently know it, and can identify it just by observing life.

Many NDE interviewees struggled to accept their experiences and kept their stories to themselves out of fear of being judged by family and friends, not alone strangers. But I think many have reached the age where they finally said, “F” the norm, and I agree. There is something everyone can learn from these experiences, including science.

Very few people have ever heard the details of my OBEs. And I share this experience at the risk of readers thinking I have lost my f###ing mind. But, after reviewing enough empirical evidence regarding NDE cases, it’s worth telling because my OBEs shared traits with the classic NDE (minus the dying of course).

When I had my first OBE at fourteen, I remember hearing a female voice call my name as I entered the spiral tunnel. I understood it to be my grandmother’s voice, even though I don’t remember either of my grandmothers. They both died when I was very young. I began moving towards a light at the end of the tunnel. In my young teenage Catholic schoolgirl mind, I entered heaven, but it could be just another realm. I arrived in a white room, and there was a rectangular table, covered in white linen. Behind the table were a handful of figures waiting for my arrival. They wore flowing material (judging by the upper half of their bodies not blocked by the table). Imagine the disciples’ robes depicted in paintings, but cleaner and brighter.

When I approached these figures, they did not introduce themselves by individual names. Instead, they were referred to only as the Council of Elders.  (WTF, right?) This reference, which I never heard at that point in my life, was unique and perhaps one of the reasons I remembered the encounter. I stood in front of them as if it were a pre-planned milestone review. They looked at the pages of ancient parchment books that rested on the table. Being fourteen I didn’t know what to think but now I have the perfect reference. It was like having the boss gaze into the manila folder that holds the annual performance review. It is a feeling of judgment on your progress as an employee, but also the moment where you get to express your desired goals for the future and hope the boss agrees.

However, the only detail I remember from the OBE conversation was that I decided to go forward in life without something specific I had with me up until that point. It was as if I preplanned this review to give my decision on a personal path I would take. (Though I can’t remember what I decided not to do). I only remember being told I would no longer receive information or guidance on whatever it was I was giving up. I wish I knew exactly what “it” was, but I suppose if it wasn’t meant to be part of the plan, I wasn’t supposed to remember it.

I never forgot these OBE experiences, but I also never thought of them as anything but strange dreams of a hormonal, creative teenager, until I noticed a pattern. A decade would pass, and new, unexplainable experiences occurred while I was asleep. Some dreams felt as real as that “council” meeting but I no longer saw myself floating above my body or the spiral tunnel.

The next distinctive experience occurred when I was in college, shortly after my dad died. My father’s death came as a surprise to our family. It was also the first time I had experienced the death of someone close since all of my grandparents died before I was born or shortly after. In this dream, I saw Jesus. Many Christians (and even some atheists) describe seeing Jesus during an NDE, but not always.  People also see religious figures in their dreams that are consistent with their upbringing. And yes, seeing my dad with Jesus could be a way of subconsciously dealing with his death.

He died during the mid-term of my senior year in college. I went back to school after the funeral, still processing the emotions of an unexpected death, while trying to finish classes and graduate. I completely understand that our dreaming minds do bring out the emotions we suppress using familiar symbols. Seeing Jesus pointing to my father and knowing he was at peace in heaven was a relief. And if it were the only thing I experienced in that dream, I would concur, that what I saw was a part of the self-healing process. But it was not all that I experienced.

Before I saw my dad, I saw Jesus standing in front of me, and this massive white light emanated from his chest.  I found myself completely bathed in this white light. At that moment, I felt an unconditional love that I had never experienced before in my entire life, and never since. As humans, we are capable of love, but I don’t think we can ever feel it unconditionally because love is an experience mixed with emotions, including anger, hate, loneliness, jealousy, etc....it’s never pure love.

This feeling left an impression I couldn’t forget, and it mirrored the feelings of those who also encountered the white light on the other side. I understand why many people who had experienced this light in their temporary death became depressed as they longed to return to that feeling of unconditional love. Nothing compares to it.

I woke up that Sunday morning, taken aback by this experience. I even walked to the local Catholic church and attended Mass. Talk about a moving experience. I had never been to the local church during my five years in college. In high school, my parents let me go to Sunday mass by myself (they went on Saturday evenings). I used to just pop into church to get a bulletin that I could take home as attendance proof. I had no patience to sit in church for an hour and listen to things I didn’t connect with while doing the ritual pew aerobics of catholic service. Don’t get me wrong, the motivation to go to the church didn’t last. Instead, those experiences became the motivation to learn more about the world through different scientific, philosophical, and religious perspectives. I could only do this if I backed away from what I was conditioned to believe, which was follow the church’s doctrine or burn in hell. The last thing I wanted was to be reinforced with fear when trying to further understand these experiences.

I don’t know how many people remember their dreams. But, I know I remember most of mine and usually can identify it as a dream when I am still dreaming. Sometimes I use that skill to change the story of my dream as it happens. The typical dream state plays out like a “movie”, and it feels the same whether I am the observer or the experiencer in my dream. I remember it when I wake up, but usually forget about them within a day. The rare dreams, the ones that feel real, are the ones that have taken up permanent residence in my memory. They felt as real as you feel in this very moment, reading my words.  

By the time I reached my mid-thirties, I was married with two kids, and still early in my communications career. It was around this time I had one of those rare dreams. This time, it involved the presence of an energy that I couldn’t see. I called it an angel, but it could have been a guide or some other spirit. I remember sitting at a wooden picnic bench, in a small park inside a city where the closest building had many steps that led to a white building with columns—sort of like the Pantheon, but bigger. On the table, was a book, and the words on the front were “Book of Life.” It looked like a large photo album. Throughout the book were pages, each with a photo, a caption, and some additional text. It was written in a language I couldn’t read. I was only able to recognize the year next to the photo. When I looked closer at the image, the energy touched my shoulder. At that moment, we moved into the actual event that took place in the photo represented.

In one of the photos, I felt the adrenaline, sorrow, and angst of a young man who robbed a store with his brother. It was 1927, the road in front of the store was dirt, and two men leaned on a black motor car of the era. They had just robbed the store, killing the clerk inside. It was not supposed to happen that way. The regret of one brother was so deep, in that moment he killed his brother and then himself. In another photo, I was sucked into a dark motel room, where a woman with red hair was about to give childbirth. It was 1954. I could see the face of the man trying to deliver the baby as if I were viewing him from her perspective. I could feel the pain and sadness as she died giving birth.

I returned to the park bench, and I remember wanting to stay to learn more. But I was told it was time to go. I suddenly woke up, believing the dream was real, but reasoning it was impossible. Still, I wrote it down because I never wanted to forget the details of those two lives I reviewed. It made me curious enough to start looking for answers.

The Book of Life is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and perhaps subconsciously I had picked this up from something I had learned. Though the experience fit more of a life review session, I can’t quite say whose life I was reviewing. Soon after this dream, I was browsing the television and stumbled across Sylvia Browne who was promoting her book, Life on the Other Side. I purchased the book and was very excited to find descriptions that closely resembled some of my personal experiences.

But, before I go further, I have to address the elephant in the room—the psychic medium, Browne. Some people believed Browne was the real deal, others not so much. Naysayers point to multiple failed predictions, including those involving missing children.  On the Montel Williams show, she told the parents of a local St. Louis area boy who went missing a few years earlier, that he was no longer living. The boy miraculously showed up alive when the police chased down a suspect in a second kidnapping near the metro area. And this wasn’t the first time she was wrong about a missing child. From this point, Browne lost credibility. I questioned the authenticity of what she wrote in her book, Life on the Other Side, for years and set it aside.

After researching NDEs, I recently revisited Browne’s book. Despite my issues with her credibility, I am willing to stick my neck out on this one because she wrote some things that resonated with my nighttime experiences and numerous stories of NDEs. They gave validity to something I couldn’t make sense of in my traditional, catholic, understanding. For example, she talks about a Council of Elders on the other side. That’s right, I  almost shit my pants when I read the subchapter titled “The Council” on page 160. Her first sentence explains the council is also known as The Elders or Master Teachers. Mind blown. Hard to admit it, but there was a strong possibility I remembered a real meeting, not an actual dream. Talking about rocking your belief system. I had never heard of this term before that OBE.

According to Browne, the Council is capable of intervening on behalf of a person’s life chart to alter the experience, but only under dire circumstances. She says a person signs up for this lifetime, and all the crap that goes with it, knowing the other side is perfect, and without fear. Even if she turned out to be a complete fraud, Life on the Other Side contained an obscure reference to the Council of Elders. I heard the term during an OBE two decades before Browne published her book.

I recently found the terms Council of Elders and the Book of Life described in second-hand stories of near-death experiences. Browne wrote that she had an NDE experience and spoke with others who had similar experiences. This controversial psychic medium might have been gifted, or perhaps she was just well-researched on NDEs.  I am willing to accept she may have formed her conclusions on real cases because her descriptions of the Other Side are similar to those provided by many who have had NDEs.

The life review is a common theme among those who have cheated death. I wondered if that realistic dream of being at the park bench, reviewing the Book of Life, was similar to a personal scanning experience.  Browne described a Greco-Roman building with columns in front, and the first place to visit after death. She called it the Hall of Records, and oddly enough, her description of the building matched the place I saw next to the park in my dream.  She explained that it contained a detailed chart of every incarnation that was ever on earth. She also described it as the “Scanning” place where people go for a life review, a term frequently described in NDEs.

However, individual near-death experiences included different “life-review” tactics, from seeing it in a reflection of water to watching it play on a massive movie screen. The individual’s experience on how they do a review seems to be unique, but the review is one of the most consistently reported experiences. Most people explained they reviewed some of the smallest moments in life that had a great impact on others, whether they were good or bad. They felt what others felt in those moments, as a reminder of the impact they can have, no matter how small or insignificant it seems during their life.

These moments reflect the “interconnectedness” of consciousness described in Eastern Mysticism and the operation of energy in Modern Physics. Maybe science should not brush NDE experiences off as a chemical reaction in the brain. The experience of connectedness in many NDE cases included feeling and seeing a bright energy emitting from everything. And as explained last week, science says everything is energy.

Outside their bodies, most experiencers pleaded with figures from the other side to stay on the other side. They felt they were finally home only to be told they had to return to their human existence and finish their work. Some were given choices, and those who chose to come back felt obligated to return to their family and friends. In either case, the most common experience, generally not talked about in detail, was the return to the body. They described their energy as being so expansive it didn’t make sense to many of them as to how they could physically return and fit into something that seemed so small as the human body.

But once they returned, most reported a new outlook on life. They came back with new skills or a strong desire to learn a skill they never considered before the NDE. One man became obsessed with learning the piano because he kept hearing the music inside his head, which he remembered from being on the other side. So, he learned how to play the piano and began writing music. Some came back simply with a new inner calm, and one learned the hatred he held for another race led to his death. He essentially learned that “what we do unto others, we do unto ourselves.” We eventually experience the pain we cause on the other side as feedback. Basically, it all sounds like a great demonstration of interconnectedness.

There are so many fascinating cases of NDEs, too many to describe in detail. And, since many of the interviews can be found online here are a couple of sources I recommend:

Free on YouTube:

The Coming Home Channel

Anthony Chene production

There are plenty of books on the subject but I like this one because it was a neurologist who did not believe it until he experienced it himself.

Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

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However, viewing energy from a strict perspective of a single discipline makes it hard to see the bigger picture. For most of my life I have kept an open mind about science, religion, metaphysical studies, and supernatural experiences. This has shaped a new perspective about our universe— it is a multi-faceted, complex expression of energy, that has been described in ancient systems and unfolding in modern physics.

The Tao of Physics by physicist and author, Fritjof Capra, discusses the parallels between Eastern Mysticism and Modern Physics. Legendary physicists, J. Robert Oppenheimer and Neils Bohr commented on the familiarity of Eastern thought with modern physics a few decades before Capra.  However, Capra extensively compared the similarities between Eastern practices and physics theories that hypothesize the underlying system for the universe. He explained String, S-Matrix, Space-Time, and Quantum Field theories and why they are reminiscent of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism thoughts on creation.

Since Capra published The Tao of Physics in 1974, physicists have made advances in particle research bringing modern physics and Eastern mysticism closer together. The parallels are intriguing, especially in light of the current understanding of energy as revealed by CERN experiments and other research institutions. At the heart of this convergence lies a shared recognition of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all phenomena—a fundamental principle that finds expression in both scientific theories and mystical traditions.

CERN is an international research lab in Switzerland often referred to as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. According to CERN, they probe the fundamental structure of the particles that make up everything around us using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments. In theoretical physics, discoveries at CERN and other cutting-edge facilities have revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Through experiments probing the fundamental nature of matter and energy, physicists have uncovered a rich tapestry of phenomena. At the heart of these discoveries lies the concept of energy—not merely as a static quantity, but as a dynamic, ever-transforming force that animates the cosmos.

I do not pretend to understand the complex, scientific theories that attempt to explain creation. Artificial Intelligence was the next best thing to hiring a tutor to explain it in non-scientific language. Here is a summary of some of the more popular physics theories, per Chatbot:

String Theory:

• Imagine that everything in the universe, from tiny particles to massive galaxies, is made up of tiny, vibrating strings. These strings can vibrate in different ways, producing various particles and forces. String theory aims to unify all fundamental forces of nature (gravity, electromagnetism, weak and strong nuclear forces) into a single framework. It suggests that the properties of particles and forces emerge from the vibrations of these strings in higher-dimensional spaces.

S-Matrix Theory:

• The S-matrix theory is a framework for understanding particle interactions. Imagine particles as actors on a stage and their interactions as exchanges of cues and dialogues. The S-matrix represents the scattering amplitudes, which describe how particles interact and scatter off each other. It helps physicists understand the outcomes of collisions and interactions between particles. S-matrix theory aims to provide a deeper understanding of the fundamental forces and particles in nature by studying the patterns and symmetries of particle interactions.

Space and Time:

• Space and time are the stage on which the drama of the universe unfolds. In classical physics, space is where things exist, and time is the progression of events. According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, space and time are intertwined in a four-dimensional fabric called spacetime. Massive objects like planets and stars curve this fabric, causing the path of objects to bend, which we perceive as gravity.

• Quantum mechanics suggests that spacetime may have a granular structure at very small scales, and some theories propose that spacetime itself emerges from more fundamental building blocks, such as strings or loops.

Quantum Field Theory (QFT):

• Imagine the universe as a dynamic stage filled with invisible fields that permeate all of space. These fields can be excited, creating particles that pop in and out of existence like actors appearing on the stage. Quantum field theory describes how particles and forces interact through these fields. It combines principles of quantum mechanics and special relativity to explain phenomena ranging from particle interactions to the behavior of electromagnetic waves.

• QFT is one of the most successful frameworks in theoretical physics, providing a robust description of fundamental particles and forces within the quantum realm. While these theories offer intriguing insights into the nature of the universe, proving them requires experimental evidence and mathematical consistency. Physicists continue to explore and test these theories through experiments, observations, and mathematical modeling, aiming to unlock the deeper secrets of the cosmos.

Extra Dimensions:

• Imagine that we live in a three-dimensional world: length, width, and height. These dimensions describe the space around us and the positions of objects within it. Scientists propose the idea of extra dimensions beyond the familiar three. These extra dimensions would be directions that are perpendicular to the ones we're accustomed to, but they're too small or curled up for us to perceive directly. Picture a garden hose: from a distance, it looks like a one-dimensional line. But if you zoom in, you'll see that it also has a circular dimension wrapped around it. Similarly, extra dimensions could exist, but they might be hidden or compactified on tiny scales.

Multiverse:

• The concept of the multiverse suggests that there could be many different universes, each with its own set of physical laws, constants, and properties. Think of each universe as a separate bubble in a vast cosmic bubble bath. Each bubble represents a different universe with its unique characteristics. In some versions of the multiverse theory, these universes may exist parallel to our own, perhaps separated by vast distances or operating according to different rules of physics.

• The multiverse idea arises from theories in physics, such as inflationary cosmology and string theory, which suggest that our universe may be just one of many possible outcomes in a broader cosmic landscape. These concepts push the boundaries of our imagination and challenge our understanding of reality. While they may sound like science fiction, they emerge from rigorous mathematical and theoretical frameworks in physics. Exploring the possibilities of extra dimensions and the multiverse can help scientists unravel the mysteries of the cosmos and our place within it.

The revelations of modern physics echo the insights of Eastern mysticism regarding the nature of reality. Both traditions recognize the dynamic nature of existence, wherein energy flows and fluctuates in a ceaseless dance of creation and dissolution. The concept of qi (pronounced, chee) bears a striking resemblance to the notion of energy in physics—a subtle yet pervasive force that permeates all aspects of life.

As our understanding of energy continues to evolve, bridging the gap between the material and the spiritual, we get a glimpse into a more holistic worldview—one that integrates the empirical rigor of science with the profound insights of ancient wisdom. In this synthesis lies the promise of a deeper understanding of ourselves and the cosmos we inhabit—a journey of exploration and discovery that transcends the boundaries of discipline and tradition.

To understand the parallels between ancient wisdom and modern physics, let’s examine the Tai-Ji symbol. It is probably one of the most recognizable symbols associated with Eastern Mysticism, yet often it is visually misrepresented. I have seen the symbol published upside down, sideways, mirrored, and missing the tiny circles. If any of my readers have a tattoo of it, I hope it looks like this:

The white side of the symbol represents the active “yang” energy. The black side represents passive energy “yin.” The circle and the tad-pole shapes of the energy show fluidity between the two forces in a constant state of movement. The small circles within each show yin cannot exist without yang and vice versa. They contain within themselves the potential for creation and destruction, for growth and decay. It is said that by embracing the interplay of Yin and Yang and acknowledging their inherent unity, one may glimpse the underlying harmony of the cosmos.  Yin and yang are complementary facets of the same cosmic dance—a dance in which each step informs the other, and in which balance is found not through dominance, but through mutual respect and harmony.

Even though descriptors of yang, (e.g., white, day, male, life, etc.) are the opposite of yin, (black, night, female, death, etc.) they are not dualistic, opposing forces. Long before the Tai-Ji symbol emerged, the dynamics of yin and yang were represented through eight trigrams. The Tai-Ji symbol is a simplified form of these trigrams.

A trigram is made of a solid or broken line that demonstrates the transformation of yin and yang energy.  The lines of the trigram are read from the bottom up, and represent earth, humankind, and heaven in that order. The oldest recorded trigram symbols were found on bones six thousand years ago at a gravesite. The find was linked to the earliest form of feng shui (i.e., grave selection).

The trigrams and the Tai-Ji symbol represent the universal state of change demonstrating an interconnectedness and interdependence of all things long before theoretical physicists began exploring the concept.

In Eastern philosophy, qi (energy) is everywhere, and everything is made of qi. It is a scientific fact that everything is made of energy, but for a long time, spaces with low atmospheric pressure were thought of as empty spaces, devoid of any particles or fields. But that is no longer thought to be true. According to quantum field theory, even in the seemingly empty vacuum, fields permeate space and fluctuate incessantly. These fields, such as the electromagnetic field, the Higgs field, and others, can manifest as particles and antiparticles spontaneously popping in and out of existence.

Ancient mystics understood and accepted the connectedness of the world based on observation and the spiritual philosophy of oneness, whereas modern physics observed the universal makeup in a controlled laboratory environment to generate proof of this connectedness.

What Eastern mystics have accepted as truth for thousands of years might take multiple, modern scientific disciplines and supporting evidence to convince everyone else. One of the central tenets of Eastern mysticism is the idea of unity or oneness—the notion that all phenomena, including human consciousness, are interconnected and inseparable from the fabric of existence. According to this view, consciousness is not confined to the individual mind but is rather an expression of the universal consciousness that permeates all of creation.

Some researchers explore the hypothesis that quantum processes in the brain may play a role in generating consciousness. This perspective suggests that phenomena such as quantum coherence, entanglement, and superposition could contribute to the emergence of subjective experience. However, the extent to which quantum effects influence consciousness remains a topic of debate and speculation.

Perhaps the best empirical evidence that consciousness is energy can’t yet be measured through a laboratory experiment (though some interesting research has taken place over the last fifty years). People who have had Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) provide proof about human interconnectedness. Up next week, Part 2 on Energy and what can be learned from NDE cases about the universe.

Unlike some other Feng Shui schools that emphasize fixed directions and forms, Flying Star Feng Shui considers the dynamic interaction of energy influenced by time factors.

Here's an overview of how Flying Star Feng Shui works and how it is applied:

1. Concept of Flying Stars: Flying Stars refer to the nine different types of energy, represented by numbers 1 to 9, that shift and interact within a space over time. Each Flying Star possesses unique characteristics and influences related to aspects of life such as health, wealth, relationships, and career.

2. Annual and Periodic Influences: Flying Stars are not static; they change annually and are influenced by longer-term cycles known as Periods, which typically last 20 years. The interaction between the Flying Stars and their positions within the property determines the overall energy dynamics and influences the occupants' experiences and outcomes.

3. Flying Star Chart: A Flying Star chart is constructed based on the layout and orientation of the property, as well as its construction date. This chart reveals the specific combination of Flying Stars present in different sectors of the property during a particular period. Each period usually contains different combinations of numbers. The numbers represent specific characteristics and influences.

4. Analysis and Enhancement: Flying Star Feng Shui practitioners analyze the interactions between the Flying Stars to identify auspicious and inauspicious sectors within the property. By understanding the energetic qualities associated with each Flying Star and their interactions, practitioners can recommend appropriate enhancements and remedies to activate positive energies and mitigate negative influences.

5. Activation and Remediation: Remedies and enhancements in Flying Star Feng Shui may involve the placement of symbolic objects, adjustments to the layout or décor, use of colors, and activation of specific sectors through the strategic use of elements and symbols. These remedies are designed to harmonize the flow of energy and maximize the potential for success, health, and well-being for the occupants.

6. Periodic Adjustments: Since the energy patterns change annually and over longer cycles, Flying Star Feng Shui requires periodic adjustments and assessments to ensure continued harmony and balance within the space.

The roots of feng shui date back thousands of years (4000 BCE) based on feng shui markings on graves. But the various schools, including Compass School (where Flying Stars began), have been dated as far back as 722 BCE, but as late as 900 CE. Though it is not considered numerology, it does share some of the characteristics. The “nine” flying stars is a fancy name for nine different energies that move through the space of a building over time. Its roots are in astronomical movement as are many systems including astrology and numerology.

Often, skeptics compare feng shui to numerology, though some feng shui practitioners claim the systems are nothing alike. Regardless, they both were ancient sciences that have long been replaced in the modern world, and some of us are still fascinated with the ancient interpretations of energy.

In early China, particularly during the time of the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), a form of numerology known as "Nine Star Ki" or "Nine Star Astrology" was practiced. This system is also referred to as "Ki Men Dun Jia," which incorporates elements of astrology, cosmology, and divination.

Nine Star Ki is based on the belief that cosmic energy manifests in nine different forms, represented by numbers 1 through 9. Each number corresponds to specific characteristics, influences, and attributes, similar to the principles of numerology found in other cultures. The Nine Star Ki system is believed to have originated from Taoist and cosmological traditions and was used for various purposes, including divination, fortune-telling, and character analysis. It involves analyzing the interactions between the cosmic energies represented by the nine stars to gain insights into individuals' personalities, life paths, and potential outcomes.

In Nine Star Ki, practitioners use a person's birth date to calculate their "personal trigram," which consists of three numbers corresponding to the year, month, and day of birth. These numbers are then interpreted to reveal personality traits, strengths, weaknesses, and potential life challenges.

While Nine Star Ki shares similarities with other forms of numerology found in different cultures, it has its own unique principles, interpretations, and applications rooted in ancient Chinese cosmology and metaphysical beliefs. So it is the closest comparison to Feng Shui, but totally different than what is considered the most popular form of numerology, the Pythagorean method. The Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, considered to be the father of numerology, lived between 570 and 475 BCE.

As you can see these “number” systems are ancient practices and come from different corners of the world. Even the Holy Bible repeats numbers with divine symbology. The number 777 is considered a symbol of the Holy Trinity, whereas 666 is the number of evil. Some theologians interpret the Bible’s Book of Revelation's reference to 666 as the Hebrew numerological symbol used to secretly speak against Nero Caesar. Basically, 666 was a numerological code name for Nero to protect Christians from death for speaking out against the cruel ruler.

Numbers are a universal language which may explain the powerful meaning given to them. Apparently, this idea and notion of a relationship between numbers and events have been present for thousands of years and not limited to feng shui or numerology. According to Pythagoras, numbers play an important role in identifying the nature of anything. But it is fascinating that so many different cultures developed similar relationships with numbers.

Numerology has its place in Chinese metaphysics and Nine Star Ki is the closest comparison to any other numerology system. But, what makes flying star feng shui different is it focuses on the nature of the fluid interaction between earth, mankind, and the heavens. And in terms of its influence over life, it ranks third behind Destiny (1) and Luck (2). In other words, if you're not destined to be a lawyer, no amount of Feng Shui will help you become a lawyer. It might assist with providing the most optimum environment for studying to become a lawyer, but it still would be like swimming upstream.

What differentiates the two systems is really in the details of how they are used.

1. Numerical Analysis: Both Flying Stars Feng Shui and Numerology involve the analysis of numerical patterns and combinations to gain insights into various aspects of life. In Flying Stars Feng Shui, numerical calculations determine the energy patterns associated with different sectors of a property, while Numerology uses numbers derived from a person's birth date, name, or other significant dates to reveal personality traits, life paths, and potential outcomes.

2. Symbolism of Numbers: Numerology defines each number as a vibration. Flying star defines each type of natural energy first and labels it with a number that represents the state of energy which is either yin (passive/even numbers) or yang (active, odd numbers). Both practices assign symbolic meanings to numbers one to nine based on cultural, philosophical, and metaphysical beliefs. In Numerology, each number is associated with specific qualities, characteristics, and vibrations that influence personal or cosmic energies. Similarly, Flying Stars Feng Shui ascribes distinct qualities and influences the forces of heaven and earth (represented by the number) have on humans living in a specific space.

3. Interpretation of Energy Patterns: In Flying Stars Feng Shui, practitioners analyze the interactions between energies to identify auspicious and inauspicious spaces within a property and recommend adding or removing an element (water, wood, fire, earth, metal) to enhance positive influences and mitigate negative ones. Numerology interprets numerical patterns to uncover insights into personality traits, relationships, and life events, offering guidance for personal growth and decision-making.

4. Holistic Approach to Harmony: Both Flying Stars Feng Shui and Numerology emphasize the importance of achieving balance, harmony, and alignment with cosmic or universal energies. They encourage individuals to understand and work with the natural flow of energy to create environments or lifestyles that support well-being, prosperity, and personal fulfillment.

Both systems use empirical data collected over an extended period as evidence of legitimacy. The data is not something that can be scientifically measured and tested in a controlled lab. It is fair to say both are very theoretical applications, sort of like theoretical physics without the giant particle accelerator used to study energy.

While Flying Stars Feng Shui and Numerology share similarities in their use of numbers, calculations, and interpretation of energy patterns, it's important to note that they originate from different cultural and philosophical traditions and with distinct methods, principles, and applications. For example, Feng shui uses the solar calendar to track energy changes. A new solar year begins in early February, and since I was born in January, my feng shui birth year is actually the previous year of the calendar. Numerology uses the standard twelve-month calendar birth year.

Ancient systems are often based on astronomy because that was the scientific standard thousands of years ago. Feng Shui uses a sixty-year cycle (i.e. low, mid, or high cycles of a 180-year Great Cycle). Within each sixty-year cycle, there are three, twenty-year periods. The 60 years is roughly based on 59 1/2 years of Jupiter and Saturn convergence. Incorporating the modern calendar in feng shui may have created a fundamental flaw in the system. We just started Period Nine of the upper cycle in Feng Shui on February 4, 2024, and it will last until February 3, 2043.

However, the last real convergence of Saturn and Jupiter occurred on December 21, 2020. Does this mean the energy for cycle nine really started back then? Considering the latest feng shui cycle is fire energy and this cycle is associated with eyes, circulatory system, fever, inflammation, extremes, dependency, volatility, prudence, superficial thought, politics, pharmacists, and emergency services, then maybe 2020 was the real beginning of cycle nine. That year certainly brought in significant change, though the fire descriptors I chose to share were the most relative attributes connecting the cycle to 2020. This is called confirmation bias and the very reason skeptics discard ancient sciences.

Feng shui and numerology may be lumped together since they are rooted in the universal language of numbers and lack the scientific rigor modern science has come to expect. Both systems can be strangely accurate, but a broken clock is right twice a day too, so whether it is by chance or design is really up to the individual to investigate. I just try to keep an open mind since ancient systems like feng shui and numerology have roots in astronomy, a distant relative to modern science. Maybe what we consider to be ancient foolery will turn out to be a universal principle proven in a physics lab. Only time will tell.

Next week we’ll take a deeper dive into the vibration of numbers and what connection they may (or may not have) to modern theories about the universe. Ancient scientists may have known more about the universe than previously thought, or at least were on to something but lacked the tools to define it.

Entering 2024, two new stories of recovered art have already emerged, providing a glimmer of hope that a missing Picasso stolen in St. Louis fifty years ago has a chance to return. In case you haven’t read the book Chasing Picasso, it is a true story about an unsolved Picasso theft that occurred at the Saint Louis Art Museum just three days after Picasso died (April 8, 1973). Each of the most recent cases of recovery reflects the two most likely motives for stealing the painting, and their route to recovery could predict the path of return for the missing Rose Period Picasso.

Case #1 Stolen 2010

• Around mid-January, paintings by Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso were recovered in Belgium fourteen years after they went missing from a private art collector in Tel Aviv. Picasso’s Tête and Chagall’s L’homme en prière were stolen in 2010, with a combined value of $900,000. In the same heist, burglars stole jewelry worth $680,000 (still missing at the time the art was found). Belgian police received a tipoff that an art dealer in the Walloon capital of Namur was offering the two paintings for sale.

  The suspect behind the theft was a 68-year-old Israeli luxury watch dealer. When federal police raided the suspect’s home they found a significant amount of money, but not the paintings. He confessed to possessing the paintings but refused to say where they were stored. Police expanded the search to a building that previously housed an art dealership known for its connection to previous stolen art cases. Police recovered two wooden boxes with lids containing the stolen art, undamaged and still in their original frames.

Case #2 Stolen 1969

• A week after the Picasso/Chagall news, another piece of stolen art resurfaced in Washington County, Utah and also returned to its rightful owner. In this case, the painting had been missing for 54 years, just a few years longer than St. Louis’s missing Picasso. The painting by John Opie, titled The Schoolmistress, was completed in 1784. In July 1969, the original 18th-century painting was reportedly stolen by mobsters out of a home in New Jersey under the direction of an allegedly corrupt U.S. Senator.

  Dr. Earl Leroy Wood of New Jersey reportedly purchased the painting for $7,500 during the Great Depression. Initially, three men attempted to steal his coin collection in 1969 but were unsuccessful when the home alarm scared them away. During the investigation, the home’s caretaker mentioned to the police and then State Senator Anthony Imperiale, that The Schoolmistress painting was “priceless.” Three weeks later, the three men returned, but this time they successfully escaped with the painting. In 1975, the three gangsters confessed to the robbery but said it was done under the direction of the senator. The FBI believed the painting remained in the hands of the mob over the years.

  According to News Nation, in 1989, an unidentified man purchased a home in Hallandale, Florida. The home had belonged to Joseph Covello, Sr., a convicted mobster.  The painting was included in the sale of the home, though the unidentified client did not know its extensive history or value. This man eventually sold the home and moved with the painting to St. George, Utah. The painting remained there until he died in 2020. Shortly before his death, he hired a Utah-based accounting firm to liquidate his residences and property. In December 2021, the firm acting as a trustee for the client appraised the painting, only to discover its true history. In January 2024, the FBI returned the painting to its rightful owner – Wood’s son, Dr. Francis Wood who is now 96 years old.

Below. Study for A Kneeling Woman Combing Her Hair (1906), Pablo Picasso, was taken from the art museum in St. Louis, April 11, 1973. The Rose Period oil painting went by several names and wasn’t documented in any Picasso art catalogs until the late 1960s. The museum purchased the painting in 1934.

The Potential Paths to Recovering the Picasso

Despite the 2010 case being a more recent art theft by comparison to the Picasso, it is a reminder that art can return to the open market because eventually, someone wants to cash in on the value. The Chagall and Picasso pieces sat in “cold storage” for fourteen years before being brought to a dealer to sell. Like the Picasso stolen from the art museum, the pieces seemed to be obscure enough to potentially avoid detection after so many years, but then again, 2010 is a far cry from art stolen in 1973.

The lesser-known works of renowned artists were nearly impossible to recover in the early days because there were no stolen art databases to search. Art ownership history was not well-documented, so transaction gaps were not necessarily an indication of a suspicious sale. Even searching for stories of old art thefts meant manually paging through newspaper archives at the library. An unlikely task for any art reseller to undertake for such an insignificant piece prior to the 1990s.

Many people assume stolen art must leave the country to be sold discretely. But this was not true in the 1960s or 1970s. Picasso art was in high demand in the US market and this piece was not well-known or well-documented.  It could have easily been moved to another region and offered to a good-faith buyer without any thought. Given the circumstances of the period, the chances were greater that the stolen Picasso from the art museum stayed in the US market initially.

Two months after the Picasso was taken from the art museum, a Rockwell painting was taken from a nearby art gallery in St. Louis and it eventually landed in the hands of a couple in New Orleans, LA, who would put it up for auction in 1988. It is possible Study for A Kneeling Woman Combing Her Hair was also sold to a private collector, possibly in good faith, and not too far away from St. Louis. It may have even exchanged hands multiple times over the years. Since this painting is not listed in a public, stolen-art database, the current caretaker could put it up for auction not anticipating a problem with the sale. It’s one of the reasons the painting could still be recovered on the open market after a half-century has passed.

I am convinced the Picasso painting moved to another city, but it could have moved through the black market like the Opie. St. Louis area thieves arrested in other art theft cases from the 1970s era had ties to local organized crime. It’s possible the Picasso was stolen and used as currency in exchange for goods or services on the black market. If the painting landed in the hands of a criminal in another organized crime city, it may show up one day among the possessions of a dead mobster. Or like The Schoolmistress, ignorantly transferred in an estate sale to someone else.

In the early 1970s, there were specific states and cities the US government reported as being mafia cities. Organized crime thefts usually involved high-value, low-volume targets, like art and jewelry. In the early Fall of 1972, six months before the Picasso theft, a $250 thousand jewelry heist occurred at a store not too far from the museum. The stolen jewels landed in the hands of some shady characters, including a “top mafia boss” in Shreveport, Louisiana, as a judge intimately familiar with the case described the details while under oath in a 1978 US Government hearing.

The police arrested an accomplice two months after the jewelry robbery—a local art restorer/dealer. The dealer became an FBI informant in exchange for not being prosecuted. While another suspect was on trial for the jewelry robbery, the art dealer reopened his local shop in August 1973 and began his duties as an FBI informant. In early 1974, the new informant reports to an FBI agent that he was offered a stolen Rockwell to purchase shortly after re-opening his store. In the FBI report, the agent explained the suspected art thief was also related to an ex-convict, a man who was publicly identified as a mafia insider in 1979.

Even though there could be a valid argument for the missing Picasso to have been sent to Chicago or Detroit (both cities had strong ties to St. Louis crime operations) there is a justifiable reason for the stolen Picasso to have gone to Louisiana. The painting was stolen not too long after the jewelry theft, and just before the Rockwell theft. I don’t believe it was a coincidence that two unrelated thefts within a nine-month period had high-value goods sent to Louisiana. In fact, Louisiana was a very profitable criminal market under the leadership of mafia don, Carlos Marcello. Some biographers credit him as leading the most profitable organized crime operation at the height of mafia power.

Just as the Opie went from New Jersey to Florida, via organized crime, so may have the Picasso gone from Missouri to Louisiana. It could have also been quietly acquired and moved to another location waiting to be rediscovered. But as with the Opie, we might have to wait for a little luck and its current caretaker to age out of existence before anyone sees the Picasso again.

To learn more about the stolen Picasso, buy the book.

If you know something about the missing Picasso, Click here to submit your story.

I was raised by a clutter bug. Mom kept a hand-me-down collection of coats, prom dresses, and Reader’s Digest magazines. She saved EVERYTHING. When she moved into a smaller home she was forced to purge. We would voluntarily ask her for outdated items that we didn’t really want, just to have a chance to throw them away. Despite the downsizing, there would still be more clutter to tackle after she died in 2015.

Among her belongings were old receipts for things she no longer owned, including a “paid” slip for bedroom furniture she purchased in 1947.  She kept Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church bulletins, PTA memos and school letters at least a half-century old. I found about a hundred Sacred Heart Jesus photos and Holy Mass cards from one of the many Catholic Charities requesting donations. Newspapers and junk mail were piled on top of a plant stand, which was minus any plant. But the most unusual collection was in the stand-alone freezer that she never used for food. Piles of manila envelopes filled the freezer. They contained utility statements from her previous house, dating back to 1984. She had organized each envelope by utility and year. My mom had a “keep this just in case” philosophy which was the root cause of this organized clutter.

This is exactly how clutter accumulates, and at some point, everyone has to deal with it. Preferably, don’t leave it for the kids, siblings, or next home buyer.

Mom grew up during the Depression Era. It influenced her “saving” habits which extended to recycling Country Crock margarine containers for leftovers and refilling 2-liter plastic soda bottles with water in case we had an apocalypse. This rubbed off on my brother who currently hoards old VCRs, remote controls, and bike tires. He’s on the Autism Spectrum, so perhaps it is part of his disability, but he certainly picked up some visual clues from Mom.

As for me, growing up with all that clutter had the opposite effect. Ten minutes into the show Hoarders is enough to bring on an anxiety attack. Visiting my brother has the same effect, but worse it is like a bad Smellavision show where all my senses get offended at the same time. I find clutter to be draining, distracting, and a waste of space. Even so, I do have to get motivated to go through the organized clutter neatly packed away on storage shelves. Thankfully, my husband also despises clutter, so cleaning cabinets, closets, and storage rooms is a winter event.

But one person’s clutter is another person’s something. Mom had a lot of something. Despite this, I appreciated about 10% of what she kept. I chuckled at the birthday cards I made her when I could barely form a sentence. I enjoyed reading the hand-written letters from Dad when he was stationed on the USS Markab at the end of WWII. He wrote them to Mom when they were first dating, and just a couple of years before they were married.  I appreciated knowing what my parents were like when they were in their twenties while being in their twenties. Usually, we just got the “when I was a kid blah blah blah” filtered story that lacked any interesting detail. Hand-written letters are a lost art and are great to pass on to loved-ones. Decades-old Polio vaccination notices from the school nurse are not.

I also inherited her 75-year-old wedding dress that had yellowed over the years. Unsure of what to do with it I searched for ideas online and found a perfect solution. I opted to remove the lace and make necklaces for the daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters. It was a way to share something that belonged to her while removing the dress, guilt-free, from storage. Personal or sentimental items are the most challenging things to part with when decluttering.

Going through Mom’s stuff made me realize I needed to organize my collection of things the kids might not find so interesting. A sentimental collection of sports trophies, college journalism awards, employee recognition awards, and other career-accomplishment mementos gathered dust in storage or on a shelf.  A friend of mine suggested removing the award plates and putting them together in a picture frame or shadow box. What a great idea!

I took her advice and added a couple other items to reflect who I was as a person outside of being someone’s mother, wife, and sister. I selected items representing accomplishments (big and small) to include in the storyboard. All items had sentimental value which is essentially why I held on to them for decades. Doing this made it easy to recycle the trophies and plaques without pitching the happy memories.

The easiest clutter to get rid of should be the stuff hiding under beds, in freezers, or plain sight ( e.g., on top of the dresser, etc.). Sometimes clutter is neatly organized in the storage room (like my awards). Clutter can be disguised as a “collection” of stuff gathered over the years (furniture, books, etc.). Or perhaps it’s a hobby that has become an addiction (collecting sports cards, shot glasses, magazines, toys, etc.).  We all have clutter that needs to be dealt with at some point. Remember, we can’t take a U-Haul to heaven, and children appreciate parents who deal with it before they make that journey.

Set a goal for February to tackle some clutter. Schedule a day and time for decluttering, but don’t be afraid to take advantage of bad weather days to start the process.

Here’s some advice on how to do it:

1. If decluttering seems overwhelming, choose a manageable space, like a small closet, bookshelf, a photo box, or tackle the surface spaces of the bedroom. Create a small chance to experience the feeling of a declutter accomplishment. It can give you the energy and motivation to tackle the next space. Once complete, schedule the next date and cluttered space to keep the momentum going.

2. Prioritize a space that creates daily chaos. Where do you waste most of your time looking for stuff? Is it the kitchen, living area, bedroom, or closet? Pick a spot to immediately benefit from clearing the space. Part of decluttering is a partner of organizing. Everything has a place and sometimes it is a room, a drawer, or the trash can.

3. When coming across “sentimental” items, create a separate pile so that it can be dealt with on another day. People hold on to stuff because of the memories (good and bad), or guilt. Maybe you inherited stuff you don’t want but feel guilty if you get rid of it—like Mom’s wedding dress. The necklaces I made were a creative solution I found online. Even though I super-glued my fingers together more than once, it was worth it!  If Fluffy died two years ago and her bed is still at home, consider donating it to a shelter (or throwing it away if in bad shape). Holding on to painful memories can make us stuck in the misery of that pain. Letting go is a way to heal those wounds and move on in life.

4. Parents keep sentimental clutter connected to their children. This includes baby books, ornaments, crafts and an overabundance of school photos and videos (usually with no way to watch them). Create bins for each child and start placing these items in them. I suggest holding on to these bins until it’s time for them to “inherit” the mess because they will appreciate the collection of memories when they are far removed from their own childhood days. They can choose to throw away what they don’t want.

5. As parents, we also inherit our kids’ stuff after they leave home. Set a date for them to come over and go through it. And if they won’t respond after multiple requests, start throwing away the junk…dry art kits, ripped posters, key chains, etc. Organize the rest into items like piles ( i.e. stuffed animals, Xbox games, DVDs, clothes, etc.). Take a pic and text it to them to ask if they want to keep or donate. No response? Let them know it’s going to charity. If there is stuff they want to keep, then organize, put away, and count down the days when they get their own place. By then they’ll either be willing to throw it away or store it at their own place. Remember. possession is nine-tenths of the law so feel free to throw it away after it has become your problem to store, clean or move.

6. Re-purposing can be a great way to save money in sparse times, but often it is just a reason for holding on to things we never use. Holding on to something because one day you might use it is borderline selfish. Someone less fortunate could make use of stored furniture, clothes, or electronics.  If you no longer use it, LOSE IT! (But please, do not give electronics to my brother. His kitchen already looks like NASA launch control.)

7. Get rid of organized clutter. In my storage area, there are large, clear containers sorted by the contents: plumbing parts, paint tools, electrical, cables, costumes, etc. Many of these also were moved from our previous house over a decade ago. I’m sure those wall plates in the electrical box do not match anything in my current house. Lean manufacturing has the phrase “just in case equals waste”. If the excuse to keep stuff is “just in case” then it’s likely clutter.  (Not to pick on my bro again, but he has three lawnmowers just in case one breaks. He mows a 12 x 14-foot patch of grass.)

8. Donate or sell clothes that no longer fit. A friend of mine had a highly organized closet. Her arrangement included ensembles of multiple different sizes.  She vacuum-sealed very expensive shirts, dresses, and suits. She had lost and gained weight multiple times over the years. She kept them to wear again once she lost weight. But these clothes were out of style and took up valuable closet space. Not to mention, they were a painful reminder of failed diets. The best value would have been removing the clothes while they still held value to resell online or at a local second-hand consignment store. But getting rid of them and freeing up space is still better than clinging to the past “hot mamma” days. A good rule of thumb for clothes is to donate a piece of clothing before buying something new. Instant closet Carma!

9. If you can’t tackle clutter alone, recruit a friend or relative. But choose wisely. Getting an objective view helps with the process of letting go. Preferably, recruit someone who lives in an organized, clutter-free space. The last thing needed is another clutter bug to justify keeping the crap that needs to go. Or, having them adopt the crap for their own cluttered space. Clutter-free people know how to get it done and get a thrill from helping others do the same. They can help create the extra energy boost needed to tackle an overwhelming space. And, they may have some good ideas for dealing with those hard-to-let-go items.

10. Another way to view clutter is to view the cost of space it consumes. Go onto Zillow or any site that gives home values and divide it by the home’s square footage. Multiply the square foot value by the space size storing the clutter. If the items are worth less than the space that stores them, it’s likely time to get rid of the stuff. Also, something is only worth money if there is a willing buyer. Otherwise, it isn’t worth jack squat. If it can be sold online, make sure it is worth the effort (especially if you have never done it before). Was it worth the $12.00 I made on that Looney Toon figurine collection after holding on to it for thirty years? No. It was not. Are garage sales worth the nightmare of labeling and having strangers judge your junk at 6 am on a Saturday? Nope. Chances are more than half the stuff will get dragged to Goodwill when it’s over.

Consider a therapist if it’s really out of control. Some people suffer from Hoarding Disorder. According to the American Psychiatric Association:  “People with hoarding disorder excessively save items that others may view as worthless. They have persistent difficulty getting rid of or parting with possessions, leading to clutter that disrupts their ability to use their living or workspaces. Hoarding disorder can cause problems in relationships, social and work activities, and other important areas of functioning.” It can become a health and safety problem for the occupants. Less than 6% of the population have a hoarding disorder, so chances are you can tackle the clutter without a psychiatrist.

But do not rule out therapy to let go of the more sentimental clutter. It’s okay to set aside things that hold special memories, just organize them together. Ask for ideas on how to utilize these items. Mark family photos with names and keep guest-registry books from grandma’s funeral or wedding because the family genealogist (or future family genealogist) will appreciate the ancestral clues they contain. (Speaking from experience on this suggestion.)

If anything, getting rid of the old creates an opportunity to bring new things into one’s life, a perfect use for February.  But if you are tempted to keep hordes of utility statements, outdated RCA cables, or PTA memos—don’t. Recycle or trash the clutter, just don’t leave it for someone else to clean up.

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The oldest known feng shui application was for selecting burial plots, called Yin House feng shui (the dead being passive energy). Yang House feng shui, is for the living (life is active energy) and it Yang house principles described in my articles.

The philosophy of yin and yang and the interaction of the two energies are a core understanding of feng shui. This is important for our discussion this week as it relates to hauntings. Yin corresponds to chi which is passivity, dark, cold, death, and night. Whereas, yang describes energy associated with activity, light, hot, life, and day. Yin and yang energy work together, sort of like fluidity where sometimes there will be more yin energy, with little yang, and vice versa. While opposites, yin and yang energies are not absolute from each other. They need each other to exist. But too much of either is not a good thing in feng shui. We are trying to understand why spirits are attracted to the property, so it helps to define the ghosts in feng shui terms…ghosts are yin energy.

What we will be looking at are the types of features that would create an overly passive energy on the property that could attract ghosts (hypothetically speaking). A building without beneficial energy becomes stale and passive, like what abandoned homes often feel like. Passive, or “yin” properties accumulate similar energy and it may even explain why ghosts seem to be more active in the still of the night since night is passive energy. But, a property doesn’t have to be abandoned to be overly yin.

Feng shui defines energy movement: wind disperses energy, and water carries it. Moving water is considered a vital aspect of good feng shui. Meandering water is good because it brings fresh “chi" onto the property to mingle with existing energy. Stagnant water is bad feng shui because it just accumulates old energy. Fast-moving rivers take beneficial energy away from a property. It is easy to understand this principle if you have ever stood on the banks of the Meramec or Mississippi rivers during a thunderstorm and witnessed how quickly and violently the water moves downstream. Or stand next to a pond of stagnant water and you can almost feel the dead energy. They both feel quite different than walking next to a meandering stream.

Roads are considered virtual rivers in feng shui. They carry chi, and they are easy to define as good or harmful just by imagining the road as a river. A highway with lots of fast-moving cars would be similar to a fast-moving river. It would strip energy away from the property. Since Hwy 55 butts up to the backside of the Lemp Mansion property, it would act as a fast river, stripping away vital new energy. In turn, the property would contain more stagnant (passive) energy. The trees on the backside of the Lemp property do provide some protective barriers for retaining the property’s new energy it receives through the other virtual rivers, like DeMenil Pl.

Another correlation to feng shui is the impact of renovations. Feng shui has specific instructions for renovations, mostly regarding timing and location. For example, disturbing the earth at the wrong time is supposed to trigger negative events. While I don’t have any experience directly with this being a problem, I do think it is interesting that feng shui acknowledges that renovation does disturb energy. Renovations are well-documented in the paranormal field as triggering hauntings. The first-hand account of the Lemp ghosts comes during the renovation period in the late 1970s.

Environmental rules of feng shui are pretty straightforward, including dealing with spirits. Don’t build a house near a cemetery or on land where there has been lots of death. (And don’t buy a house where there have been violent deaths.) It’s hard to know what kind of deaths and violence occurred on the Lemp property before any structure was erected. But there is something we know that existed beforehand—an extensive cave system running under their property.

Stock cave picture, and not the actual Lemp Cave, but you get the picture.

Historically, cave systems were used as part of the Underground Railroad for slaves seeking freedom and Native Americans for shelter. Whether are not there were any that came through the underground cave system that runs through South St. Louis City and under the mansion is not well known. Any artifacts were likely cleared away when Adam Lemp began using the cave system for storing lager in the 1840s, or when William Sr. converted its use for entertainment and the private path to and from the brewery.

According to feng shui, never build a house on unstable ground (cliffs, sinkholes, and caves) because it can cause nervousness and stomach diseases. Primarily, the potential for a collapse could subconsciously create anxiety. William Sr. suffered from stomach disease, at least according to one news article at the time of his death. Billy and Elsa were reported as being ill before they committed suicide. It's possible all three suffered from a hereditary gastrointestinal illness. Coincidentally, they were all reported as suffering from “nervousness” (a.k.a., anxiety). Living above a cave could have made all of these illnesses worse due to long exposure.

I managed to track down one feng shui book that focused solely on haunted property features. According to the research presented, the magnetic properties of caverns tend to be different due to their connections to fault lines. Also, limestone caves were noted in haunted cases. Limestone is a well-accepted theory in the paranormal world as material that holds energy. Towns considered very haunted, and that have a lot of limestone, are Alton, IL, and Eureka Springs, AK.

Caves, at least under the principles of feng shui, are very, very passive. With virtually no way to effectively carry and disperse fresh energy from the outside, caves are an overly passive energy conduit. Generally, they are dark and cool and gather stagnant water in various spots. Theoretically, it makes sense a cave system would attract spirit energy as a yin property. The Lemp cave may gather mostly stagnant energy, but it is still part of a cave system capable of carrying water underground. Perhaps this is also a means for carrying spirit energy to and from multiple places, with the mansion being just one source, and other buildings and homes connected to the system being other potential sources.

It would be interesting to know how many other properties in the same area where the caves are located have experienced paranormal activity. We already know the Lemp Mansion, and the Brewery are considered haunted. But I am curious if there have been private reports involving properties that sit along or on top of the known cave systems in South St. Louis.

It sounds crazy to use the word “logical” when talking about hauntings and/or feng shui. But, according to how energy moves per the rules of feng shui, a dark passive, limestone cave system would seem to be the logical channel for passive energy (ghosts) to hang out and possibly move to and from different locations. If so, that could explain why there are ghosts that hang out at the Lemp Mansion, but may not belong to the Lemp family (ahem…Zeke?)

Previous Posts for Digging into the Birth of An American Haunt

Part 1. Seeking the Truth Behind the Lemp Mansion

Part 2. What feng shui reveals about mansion that house raised the Lemp family

My investigation into the property using feng shui began nearly twenty years ago. I am not talking about rearranging the furniture at the mansion either. Feng shui is an ancient approach to studying the energy or “chi” of a property and it is a unique way of unveiling what may have impacted the family that once called it home.

I set out to analyze the physical environment and determine the type of energy that exists in the building. The method I used is called “flying stars”. What’s that??? It’s a confusing title hardly worth explaining here. It’s kind of like an astrological chart for a property, but I prefer to call it an energy blueprint or house DNA.  The method takes the period of the home’s initial construction and the magnetic sitting and facing direction to calculate the pattern. A compass not set to true north determines the magnetic direction of its sitting and facing side. The calculation output is the energy blueprint or a map that shows how the chi (a.k.a. energy) was distributed during a specific period and the magnetic influence it has on the property. Then, the map reveals the kind of influence a property can have on its occupants.

It’s a potential influence because people have to spend enough time in the home’s space deemed to be problematic, and the severity usually depends on the person’s predisposition to the influences. For example, if a bedroom has energy that is known to influence losses through gambling, the outcome would be more devastating to a person who already has a gambling addiction than someone who does not.

The last thing to keep in mind before we get into the nitty-gritty of the Lemp Mansion’s DNA is that the analysis of these energy patterns comes from a collection of researched cases over hundreds of years, via feng shui masters. This data is shared with practitioners during their training. Some schools teach feng shui as an environmental science because the research is considered empirical data (a requirement of any science.) I’m on the fence, not having collected enough personal cases to validate all the claims. However, as far as the Lemp Mansion, we have a very public history about the property so we will be looking back to see if the analysis matches what we know about the property and the occupants.

The Construction Period

A little more feng shui background is required to understand the analysis. The feng shui period is made up of twenty years and nine periods make up The Great Cycle (180 years) before it repeats. Each period in the cycle has a different energy, therefore it has different effects on the occupants. For example, one house might attract an unusual number of divorces, while an identical property built in a different period might be very good for relationships.  As buildings age, the energy in the home tends to decay but eventually refreshes as its construction period comes back around after the great cycle is completed. In fact, 2024 is the start of the ninth period of the great cycle which will be completed in 2043.

The Lemp Mansion was built in 1868, which is in the first period (1864 to 1884) of the great cycle. Within any energy blueprint, there are always negative and positive influences. The unbalanced energy can negatively affect the occupants only if those patterns are used in rooms where they spend a lot of time, or if located in frequented entrances to the home. Since people traditionally don’t spent a lot of time in bathrooms and closets, those spaces are inconsequential.

The Lemp Mansion’s energy blueprint eerily resembles the empirical data for a period-one home. Period one constructed buildings are known to strongly support the occupants' wealth/career OR their health /relationships, but not both. It was no surprise that the Lemp Mansion’s pattern followed the pattern that supported wealth and career over health and relationships.

Period one ended in 1883 followed by periods two and three (1884 to 1923) completing the lower part of the great cycle. During this time the beneficial energy began to decay. By the mid-part of the great cycle (1924 to 1983), a period-one property reached full decay before it began to slowly climb out of its funk. In the upper cycle (1984 to 2043) the property began following an upswing gaining beneficial chi. This will continue as it gets closer to returning to a “first-period” energy, beginning in 2044 when the great cycle starts over.

Through the eyes of feng shui, the great cycle has manifested in the property’s history. The period of growth and wealth for the family occurred in the first period (1864 to 1883). During the first two decaying cycles, (1884 to 1923) the apparent heir to the business, Fred Lemp dies, and then William, the patriarch who grew the Brewery into its commercial success, commits suicide. At that point, the business begins to decline for multiple reasons, Prohibition being the most prevalent.  By the end of the period, the Brewery, a source of family prominence and wealth, was liquidated, and then Billy committed suicide.

While intriguing, the more interesting stuff is in the details of the energy patterns. This is how feng shui reveals the influences a building has on its occupants. Feng shui looks at wealth, and health (health includes relationships). The preference is always to have a home with better health energy because a healthy person can still earn money. Areas of the home likely to have the most influence are where people spend a lot of their time. Good examples are bedrooms, offices, and kitchens. Additionally, the home’s entrances and exits used most often are important because this is where new energy enters the house.

Overall, there are 144 potential energy blueprints for any property, which is about 16 per period. But each period is different, so the influences for homes built in the first period, like the Lemp mansion, would be different than homes built during other construction cycles.

Here is what the feng shui analysis reveals about the influences the Lemp property would have had on those who lived there:

• The heart of the home is considered the “potential”. Normally, we ignore it, but since the pattern also exists in the south sector of the home of the home anyone spending time in this area could be impacted. This energy is considered good for money, wealth status, and credibility for adults. But it has the potential to injure children.

• The property’s facing direction (West) strongly supports wealth. However, it is also related to malicious influences on females and excessive drinking or alcoholism in the home. This seems to be where the front doors are located at the mansion. Because the Lemps were in the business of selling beer, it was likely a double-edged sword—good for beer sales, but there may have been occupants that abused alcohol.

• The northwest and northeast locations were considered highly unfavorable for children’s bedrooms. It was unfavorable for conception also because it could cause the birth of mentally challenged children. (Yikes, not trying to perpetuate the Zeke myth.) Fire energy like vibrant reds, candles, and fireplaces would have made the problem worse, leading to sickness and loneliness for anyone who made it their bedroom or office.  

• The southeast area of the home would have contributed to quarrels or lawsuits involving contracts. It would not be good for pregnant women and could influence kidney disease It is also not good for a company office.

• Probably, the most disturbing areas are the southwest and east locations of the property. They both have an energy combination that only appears in period one. It is called the suicide combo. The empirical data says people sleeping or working in these areas would see money issues, easily fall sick with bone or head-related diseases, and, in extreme cases, suicide.

The mansion’s overall pattern is considered good for wealth, but weak for health and relationships. In my opinion, the extreme wealth energy located on its facing side is counterbalanced by the extremely unbalanced health energy on its sitting side. Specifically, this is the seat of the suicide combo energy.

This property supported the money but at the risk of the occupants’ physical and mental health. If there were elements present in space in conflict with the natural element of the energy (defined as water, metal, earth, fire, wood) that would have manifested the problem even more. From what we know about the history of the family, it certainly seems that the property may have influenced some of the behaviors. Keep in mind, if the family was pre-disposed to mental illness, then having a bedroom, office, or entrance in this area would have made it worse. I also think it is interesting that the St. Louis coroner's office reported a 25% increase in suicides from 1884 to 1885, and it makes me wonder how many people lived in homes built in the first period.

Since I don’t have a detailed layout of the home to show the location of the original rooms and what areas were built potentially in the second construction period, the analysis is not as exact as it should be in a feng shui report. A detailed analysis requires the exact locations where the occupants slept, worked, and gathered. Perhaps one day I will get my hands on the complete construction blueprint and have some answers.

Next week we’ll wrap up the Lemp Mansion property assessment and examine features that could be the key to unlocking the mystery of its ghostly attraction.

The William J. Lemp Brewery was one of the largest breweries in America in the pre-prohibition era. They were bigger than Anheuser-Busch, gave the world Falstaff beer, and arguably, the wealthiest family in St. Louis in the late 1800s to the early 1900s. But since the late 1970s, the Lemp’s family mansion has taken center stage as their legacy. It has been rated as one of America’s most haunted locations, and ghost hunters from all over the country head to the venue to spend the night, investigate, and hope to leave with something that lives up to the spooky legends.

Search online and it is easy to find former employees and visitors sharing their stories and evidence of strange experiences. And there is also information that is flat-out wrong but often repeated and perpetuated as fact. Having toured the place about a decade ago I still can’t say I walked away with proof of it being haunted. But I left with strange tales that seemed more legend than reality. The only way to figure out what could be true, false, and something in between, was to dig into the past and look to documented history, and sometimes, simply using common sense.

William Lemp wed Julia Feickert in 1861, the year before the brewery’s founder, Adam Lemp died. William’s stepmother, Louise Lemp, lived across the street from the current mansion, at the corner closer to the brewery (at the corner of Cherokee and DeMenil Pl). William lived with Louise in 1860, per the Federal Census. According to a St. Louis 1865 business directory, William resided at the same address as Louise, so we can assume he and Julia, lived with Louise until the mansion was completed. At the same time, Julia’s parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Feickert resided at the corner of 2nd Street, a saloon, and the original location of Adam Lemp’s brewery establishment. Adam Lemp and Jacob Feickert were close, so the marriage of their two children was likely a welcome event for both families.

According to the 1870 Federal Census, William, Julia, and three Lemp children resided at the new mansion, along with Julia’s parents (Jacob and Elizabeth) and two young siblings, Mary (5) and Matilda (2). The 1870 lists the Lemps and Feickerts as two families in the same residence. The records gives us a better timeline of when the original bones of the mansion were completed, between 1865 and 1870, hence c. 1868 is probably the most accurate date reported.

The newly-built mansion is listed on the 1876 Compton & Dry Map. This fascinating map uses perspective drawings of the streets, businesses, and homes with horse-drawn buggies and people traveling the roads. A clear figure of a three-story, L-shaped building is marked with Jacob Feickert’s name, not Lemp's. I am not exactly sure if Feickert built it for William and Julia, as a gift, or the reverse. It is not quite the glamorous structure of today, but it is impressive for the period. By 1880, William was the head of the household for the expanding family at the same address. Though Julia’s parents are listed, Mary and Matilda Feickert are no longer listed. It’s possible they died young, perhaps during the a Cholera outbreak.

William made impressive expansions to the mansion in the years that followed. The realtor database shows the construction as 1890, but that likely reflects major renovation. Comparing the original drawing on the 1876 Compton & Dry map and the mansion photos from the early 1900s, the expansion was large and ornate, demonstrating the family’s wealth and opulent taste.

Lemp Mansion. Source: Missouri Historical Society, c. 1983

William and Julia had eight children, the first dying at birth in 1862. From the oldest to the youngest, Anna, William Jr. (aka Billy), Louis, Charles, Frederick, Hilda, Edwin, and Elsa were all born between 1865 and 1883 and all were raised at 3322 DeMenil Pl. However, its original street address for the mansion was Second Carondelet Avenue until 1883, then it became 3322 Thirteenth Street. The unlucky Thirteen.

Frederick, reportedly William’s favorite, was slated to one day run the brewery. But this would never come to pass. Fred died of a heart condition on December 12, 1901, at 28, during his stay at a health facility in Pasadena California. He left behind a young wife, a three-year-old daughter, and a devastated Lemp family. Thereafter, the Lemp family would begin to spiral downwards.

Fred’s death was considered a contributing factor to William’s Sr. weakened state of mind in the years to follow.  On the morning of February 13, 1904, after other family members had left the mansion, William Sr. remained in his bedroom where he shot himself in the right temple. He had reportedly suffered from nervousness and illness in the weeks leading up to his death. He left his estate to Julia. His sons continued to run the brewery, and Billy Lemp took over as president.  

Two years later, Julia died of cancer at the mansion, leaving her estate to be equally divided among her children, with specific instructions for when they could receive their inheritance. Each child was estimated to get as much as $1 Million, the equivalent purchasing power of about $34 Million in 2024! The youngest daughter, Elsa, was just 23 and would not receive her full inheritance until she was 30. But, because Elsa married Thomas Wright when she was 27, she received $100,000 per the conditions of Julia’s will.

The Wrights had one child who died at birth in 1914. Elsa separated from Thomas in late 1918, then divorced him in early 1919. Elsa complained to the court that Thomas had grown cold towards her. Her doctor attested to this claim. He told the judge that Elsa had suffered from a nervous breakdown and depression over the previous three years due to her husband’s coldness. She was granted a divorce in just one hour. It was unusual to grant a divorce that quickly. Compared to the other two divorces (Billy in 1909 and Anna in 1893), it was a quiet event, lacking drama and dirty accusations that marked the other separations.

Despite Elsa’s claim that Thomas no longer loved her, she remarried him a year later. Twelve days after they tied the knot, she committed suicide at her home, which coincidentally, was Thirteen Hortense Place.  The husband, who was the first to her side, provides conflicting statements to authorities, specifically about the gun.  Elsa had written a second will after her divorce that cut Thomas out of the picture. But her remarriage to Thomas voided the second will, placed him as the major benefactor to the estate. The final inquest issued a verdict of suicide. (The suspicious death warrants its own story.)

With Prohibition looming, Billy closed the Brewery in 1919, with no notice to employees. He announced plans to liquidate the business. The facility was up for sale in 1921, with valued assets of about $7,000,000. After receiving just pennies on the dollar on the sale, he too would go into a depression and illness over its slow liquidation. On December 29, 1922, Billy shoots himself at his office, located at the Lemp Mansion. Like Elsa, he aims for his heart.  (Not to be morbid, but I specifically call out rooms and wound locations since some online content doesn’t match the death certificates or the earliest news reports.)

An often-repeated story is that when Billy went to Elsa’s home on the day of her suicide, he remarked, “This is the Lemp family for you.” I would have expected to see this statement in the news coverage of Elsa’s death in 1920. But the first published record of it, at least that I could find, was in 1922, in a story about Billy’s suicide. Consequently, there is no way to verify if Billy ever said those words at the time of Elsa’s death. It could have been hearsay, or even a reporter’s way of adding drama to the third family suicide. Personally, it seems an over-the-top statement for Billy to make having just witnessed his youngest sister’s body, and only the second suicide. If he did say it, perhaps he subconsciously was expressing his suicide contemplations. After all, he was liquidating his family’s legacy, and most of his brothers left the business years earlier.

The last of the Lemps to live at the mansion was Charles, who was also the last brother to remain active in the Brewery’s operation during Billy’s tenure. A bachelor all his life, he moved back into the mansion after the sale of the brewery. He lived there until May 10, 1949, when he put a gun to his temple, like his father, and shot himself in his bedroom. He was 77. Like the other Lemp suicides, the news reported he suffered from nervousness just weeks before his suicide. Though I couldn’t find a source for this, Charles allegedly shot his dog before taking his own life. If true, then perhaps Charles believed the act of leaving his companion behind was crueler than killing it. Charles would be the only Lemp to leave a note, which stated he was to be blamed for his actions.

The total count for mansion suicides is three: two in bedrooms, and one in the office. A fourth in a bedroom and separate home. Two in the heart, two in the head, but all in the morning with guns.

It seems the members of the Lemp family that got away early lived a happier life. Anna moved to New York after her second marriage. Hilda moved to Milwaukee when she married Gustav Pabst, of the Pabst family. Louis got out of the family business and moved to New York in 1906. Even Edwin, the youngest boy, left the beer business behind in 1910 and moved to Kirkwood where he tended to his animals and exotic plants, and entertained friends. A bachelor like Charles, Edwin insisted on not staying alone as he might suffer the same fate as his siblings. At 90, he died of natural causes, closing the local chapter on the Lemp family in 1971.

After Charles's estate was settled, the mansion was put up for sale, and a February 1952 newspaper advertisement confirmed the property's availability. It became a boarding house catering to middle-class couples, but by the 1960s, it had operated closer to a flop house for the poor and neighborhood vagrants. Dick and Pat Pointer purchased the dilapidated property in 1976 with the intent to renovate it and open the Lemp Mansion Restaurant.

Hauntings are often associated with properties that have had tragic deaths, and so this mansion would be a prime spot for ghosts to hang out. The earliest reports of ghosts may have sprouted from the neighborhood and former tenants, but the first published account appears in 1979. While the Pointer family had direct experiences, like feeling they were being watched, or hearing noises, they also were aware of the neighborhood rumors that already existed—William, Billy, and Charles were already said to be haunting the Lemp Mansion. [Source St. Louis Post Dispatch, Sept 2, 1979].

The same 1979 feature story shared another neighborhood tale that has grown over the years about William Sr. who allegedly sired a “retarded” boy he kept in the attic. While some 19th-century parents may have shunned their mentally challenged children to attic spaces, the Lemps were wealthy enough to hire special caretakers and private facilities, so this already doesn’t past the common sense test. Proof cited of the secret child was the multiple record discrepancies that sometimes listed seven or eight children. William and Julia indeed had eight children, but their firstborn, a male, died in infancy in 1862, with the other seven surviving. Hence, the discrepancy is not at all about a diabolical dad. The story of the Lemps hiding their Down Syndrome child from the public is more than likely, completely false.

Compounding the tale was a story an elderly neighborhood woman told Mr. Pointer, who then gave to the reporter. She said long ago she saw a face that looked like a gorilla peeking out the attic window. This article compounded the myth of  “monkey-boy”, the unfortunate nickname given to the child (imaginary or not) with Down syndrome. The Lemps' many servants lived in the attic, so if there was a child with Down syndrome, he was likely the son of a staff member. And it’s plausible that William preferred his staff to keep their children out of his hair and relegated to the servant’s space. At best, I think the story could be a half-truth based on the possibility that one of the servants who occupied the attic space had a mentally impaired child, though there is no evidence to support any child existed other than old witness accounts which are not reliable.

Since the 1979 article, the story of the boy in the attic continued to morph. In one account floating on the Internet, the boy's father was Billy Lemp and his mother was a prostitute. During Billy’s 1909 divorce, he definitely was accused of stepping out on his wife Lillian on numerous occasions, with women of ill repute. But Billy didn’t live in the Lemp Mansion after he married, and it was converted to an office after his mother died. So, it’s unlikely he had an impaired child roaming in the attic which became the business office during his time as president. In yet another iteration, Charles took care of the child when he lived at the mansion and the boy only lived into his teens. I can’t see how any of the math adds up. Ironically, during the rise of “political correctness” the “retarded” boy now prefers to be called Zeke.

In 2002, a local afternoon radio show (The Dave Glover Show) recorded a Halloween special at the Lemp for listeners. A recorded video clip featured the mansion tour guide explaining she had interacted in the past with a tall figure, who was unhappy about being referred to by a derogatory name (likely, monkey-boy).  She said he wanted to be called by his name, Zeke. The name came to her through a psychic message. Other resources for Zeke have been credited to The Steve and DC (another local radio show) with the discovery cited as 1983, which makes no sense since they were on the air between 1991 – 2008. In any case, it’s hard to prove Zeke exists or ever existed, but at least he is no longer disability-shamed. (BTW, Zeke, short for Ezekiel, is not a German first name commonly used from that era, like Fredrick, Louis, William, or Edwin. I might of been swayed if it were Heinrich (aka Henry) or Johann (aka John) or Franz (Frank). If Zeke exists, he is more likely to be a guest ghost of Jewish decent.)

Since the 1979 story revealed the ghostly experiences, the number of spirits residing at the mansion has grown to double-digits. Perhaps, what is going on is the phenomenon best described in the Philip experiment. The Philip Experiment was a parapsychological experiment conducted in the 1970s to test the hypothesis that human thought could create paranormal phenomena. The experiment was led by Canadian psychiatrist Dr. A.R.G. Owen and his wife, Iris Owen.

The participants created a fictional character named "Philip Aylesford" and developed a detailed backstory for him. They then attempted to communicate with this fictional entity through séances and other paranormal practices. The idea was to see if their collective thoughts and concentration could bring about paranormal phenomena associated with the character.

During the sessions, participants would sit around a table, focus on the imagined Philip, and try to make contact with him. They hoped for paranormal occurrences such as table movements, raps, or other unexplained phenomena. The experiment reportedly produced some intriguing results, including purported communication with the fictional Philip through knocks and movements.

Critics argue that the Philip Experiment's outcomes can be attributed to psychological factors such as ideomotor responses, where subtle movements are unconsciously made by participants. The experiment is often cited in discussions about the power of belief, suggestion, and the potential influence of the human mind on paranormal experiences.

Like the Philip Experiment, I consider the ghostly evidence caught on digital recorders a potential manifestation created from the stories and seances held within the manse walls for nearly fifty years. Yet, it makes perfect sense that family members who killed themselves in the mansion could be haunting the place. Because of that, I keep an open mind about people’s personal experiences on the property.  I analyzed the property nearly two decades ago using the principles of feng shui, and the results were equally strange.  But that is for the next Rabbit Hole Journey when I dig into how the environment could have impacted the Lemp family and what could make it a paranormal hotspot.

It’s hard to jump into the topic without some explanation of the subject, so here is the abbreviated version to help readers follow along. The term Feng Shui translates to “wind and water” which is considered the means of how energy is carried from one place to another. Energy, also called “chi” is heat, light, gravity, life force, magnetism and it follows the flow of air, at least in the concept of feng shui. The quality of chi in a living or working space is believed to influence the health, financial well-being, and relationships of those spending extended time in it.

But is there any truth to it? Well, I have had some legitimate interesting results with some of the techniques. To be fair, I have also learned some things that do not work at all. And then, there are those things I didn’t bother trying. But, that’s about to change.

My first introduction to feng shui occurred when I was on a road trip setting up a tradeshow with a colleague over two decades ago. Out of boredom, I began reading a book on Eastern philosophy, which contained a few pages on feng shui. From the moment I read about it, I became instantly intrigued. Something about it struck a chord as possibly being true.

Back when I was just a teenager, and finally had a bedroom of my own, I realized the space I lived in had an impact on my energy. When it was dirty and full of clutter, I felt lethargic. Changing colors, adding light, moving furniture, etc. seem to always revitalize the space and me. I did this throughout my adulthood, whether I lived in a dorm, apartment, or house. Before I learned about feng shui, I may have been using its concepts without even knowing it. Well, maybe.

After reading a book titled, Move Your Furniture, Change Your Life back in 2000, I jumped at the chance to attend a local, 6-week evening class to learn feng shui. My family had recently moved into a new, two-story house and it seemed like a perfect time to learn feng shui and apply the concepts. Once a week for about two hours a night, I would learn “remedies” to apply to my home to improve my space. However, I had no idea there were different schools of feng shui and I was about to get a lesson in blind belief.

The classes I took were part of the Western school (a.k.a. Black Hat or  BTB schools). It combined color psychology, interior design, and aspirational concepts into a simplified feng shui practice. It also focused on decluttering long before Marie Kondo turned decluttering into a defined regiment called the KonMari Method™.

I learned some very practical techniques from the Western school that I still use like decluttering. But there were some concepts that were just too weird. One suggested method was to use “mirrors” to prevent chi from draining down the toilets. To test the concept I placed very small circular mirrors on the bathroom ceiling, above the toilets, to prevent “the money energy” from draining out of the house. Did it work? Let’s just say it gathered more questions than it banked money.  

Hindsight being 20/20, an easier concept would have been to just close the toilet lid and use stoppers on the sinks if my money chi was really draining through the bathroom. If we didn’t have plumbing, we would all die of cholera, so I’m pretty sure proper drainage overrules chi loss.

Eventually, research led me to a key understanding about feng shui. Western methods (that I learned first) and traditional methods (that I learned later) had very few things in common. In fact, they are strong contradictions between the two schools. I had not learned feng shui, at least not the Eastern (traditional) version I initially read about. I needed the whole story, not just the abbreviated new age version sold in bookstores.

To learn the history of feng shui, I dove into traditional practice in 2002. This was the earliest rabbit hole journey I remember experiencing and it was a big one. I exited the abyss with three certifications from the American Feng Shui Institute (AFSI), and a number of extra courses in advanced applications. Traditional teachings are complex, layered and require a lot of practice.

The AFSI’s curriculum focused on core feng shui concepts as an ancient science. It eliminated practices based in superstition, cultural beliefs, religious symbology, and other things often cited as feng shui. But, not all traditional schools strip the teachings down to the bare bones. After collecting books influenced by different traditional masters, it became obvious everyone within this space was not on the same page. (Eastern and Western feng shui schools were not even in the same ballpark.)

This brings me back to my “ Western feng shui” mirror test and why it felt wrong as a correction to a space. I learned that traditional use of mirrors is to reflect light to brighten a dim space, not symbolically prevent chi from going down the toilet. A mirror doesn’t even move chi. Wind carries chi, water gathers chi, but not mirrors. And, if a room has bad energy, mirrors will not correct it according to traditional schools. So how did mirrors get into the mix?

In ancient times, feng shui was passed down through poems. A person without complete knowledge of feng shui would often misinterpret the meaning behind the use of mirrors.  Mirrors usually had thick metal frames, and the metal served as the correction to the space, not the mirror. In feng shui, five elements—metal, water, wood, fire, and earth—are used to balance the energy of a space in traditional feng shui. I can accept that logic because placing mirrors above my toilet and other odd spaces just seems like uninformed advice. Maybe there is a placebo effect for some users, but not for me.

For the last twenty-two years, I have performed annual feng shui maintenance on my house. Instead of just doing the bare minimum in 2024, I am going to apply a traditional technique that is supposed to attract money. It does not involve mirrors. But, I am a little skeptical about it since it feels like across over into Chinese astrology. Nevertheless, I will once again keep an open mind.

In this technique I will place a change bowl, made of a specific color and material, into a 15-degree location calculated specific to my “personal” feng shui analysis. Since I regularly put change in a jar, I might as well spruce it up and place it in an auspicious location. I am also doing this for my spouse, so we have two test trials happening at the same time. I’ll give it all of 2024 just to see what happens. The outcome has to be more than just the financial accumulation in our change bowls. But if you don’t hear from me at all, then clearly,  we have won the lottery and provided the ultimate proof of success.

Last year I bypassed all “health” commitments to focus on hitting my publishing deadline, April 1, 2023. Thereafter, the plan was to walk the short, hilly golf course weekly, among other activities. All was going well. I managed to score a few good media interviews, starting on the fiftieth anniversary of the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Picasso heist (the key subject of Chasing Picasso.) This was followed by the official launch and book signing at the wonderful Picasso’s Coffee House on Main Street in St. Charles, MO. A lot of friends, family, and new readers came out to buy books and have them signed. The momentum continued to roll with media requests and an opportunity to do more signings. That was until I broke my ankle ten days later.

In 2021 when I was at the beginning stages of researching my book, I broke my right foot trying to walk off the “tingling” just before it went completely numb and collapsed beneath the weight of my body.  So, breaking my left ankle just after I launched Chasing Picasso was sort of a bookend moment for my first book-author journey.

I played a lot of sports in my lifetime competitively and for recreation. Through countless soccer competitions and numerous rocky roller hockey games, I managed to not break a bone in 56 years. Breaking two bones within 18 months was an unexpected, disappointing surprise. This led to a bone density test and an osteopenia diagnosis.  This means osteoporosis will happen in the future and I need to slow down the process through a lifestyle change. This is why I am joining the bandwagon of millions of Americans who proclaim a commitment to diet and exercise this New Year.

Adding to the high cholesterol medicine, I now have to take a bone pill and a lot of calcium. The diagnosis, and my disdain for swallowing large vitamins, helped fuel my desire to get healthy in 2024. Let’s just hope it is enough to get me over that hump from exercise-hate to habit. I want to lose twenty pounds, preferably in the next two weeks so I can fit into some beach clothes for my late January trip. Of course, I realize that is impossible unless I catch Ebola or something extreme in the next week. Right now, I will settle for just flattening my stomach enough, so I don’t look like I am smuggling the inflated pool donut beneath my golf dress.

Instead of waiting until January 1 to start this, I began to “practice” the routine the day after Christmas. The weather has been wet and cold, and I prefer the warmth of the indoors. I have been walking on the treadmill for 30 minute a day, listening to Who Killed JFK? with Rob Reiner and Soledad O’Brien. Each episode is about the same length as the walk and serves as a needed distraction from the boredom of stationary walking.  

As I write this, I am on Day 3. I am not sure what to make of my progress just yet. I exercised, stretched, and meditated for a total of an hour, followed by a two-hour nap. Yep, getting old is not for pansies.

One way to accomplish this is to expand the number of book reviews. Authors are always looking at ways to expand their audience, but not all have a specific goal like trying to locate the whereabouts of a stolen Picasso oil painting lifted from a local museum in 1973.

If you have read my book, Chasing Picasso, and enjoyed it, you can help in this quest simply by leaving a review. Here’s how:

DIRECT SALES: If I sold Chasing Picasso to you (book signings, golf outings, happy hour, etc.) or it was given to you through a mutual friend, then please leave a brief comment on my Substack Book page. Please click on this link to go to the review page on Substack. Though the platform doesn’t have a rating system, just say something friendly.

NATIONAL BOOK RETAILERS: (i.e., Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.) Leave a review via the retailer under the book listing/description. The retailer might verify your post, so just note you might not see it show up on the site right away.

Thanks to all the subscribers that have already left reviews. Your comments help!

If you have no idea what I am talking about, but intrigued about the story of the missing Picasso from the Saint Louis Art Museum, then visit cjoanbaker.com or go directly to any online book retailer and enter the title, Chasing Picasso by C. Joan Baker. You can also request/order it from local book stores as well. Below are quickly links to Amazon books.

Amazon has hardcover, paperback and ebook editions.

To add a brief comment go to “Book” page by clicking here. (Ignore the “comments” field below as that is relative only to this article).