lucky that you and I met because you need help and I can give it to you, but only if you understand that this thing you see in your mind, which transferred itself to me, to my mind when you were on the telephone, isn’t what you think. This shadow that seems animated and alive is not in that state, not at all. It is, in fact, what is known as an engram. It is a false memory, an encapsulation of pain and loss that you have chosen to represent in this way. And it has been with you so long that it has actually caused a change in your neural tissue, which accounts for its persistence. In other words, the cells of your brain have altered themselves to accommodate this false memory, which is harming you. It has harmed you all the days of your life since it first formed. You have to kill it, get rid of it, or you will never progress. You will be stuck in your current state and no advancement of your presence on Earth and no progress for your spirit beyond this realm will be possible.”
“What?” That was all I could think to say to this astonishing declaration. “What?”
I really was stunned. My presence on Earth? My spirit? Please. Those were code words that led into New Age territory, and I’d been through all that, explored just about all the alternative belief systems that had been popular at the tail end of the hippie years when I was young enough to be interested. But I wasn’t interested anymore. I had sat in enough communal halls, meeting house basements and crash pads to have heard more than I ever wanted to about the care and feeding of my spirit, aka, my soul. And I had heard it from more gurus, protogurus and their followers than even I could remember. That was certainly not what had drawn me here—to listen to a lecture about how to ensure my progress in the great, mystic beyond. Conversations about that kind of thing were vastly unsatisfying because they led nowhere, unless you could will yourself into the mindless acceptance of what always ended up being the equivalent of some fanatic’s drug dream, and I could not. Did not want to.
I suddenly felt very foolish. I had been drawn into the orbit of what I was just about ready to bet was some cult follower who used whatever real psychic ability she had (and that was still debatable) as bait. I was sure that was the case; in fact, some parts of the litany she was intoning sounded familiar, and not in a good way.
“Did you hear me, Laurie?” Ravenette said, leaning forward. “The engram must be neutralized.”
Engram . That was it—that was a word, a concept I had heard somewhere before. Thinking about this, I didn’t respond to Ravenette but she wasn’t bothered by my silence; she just kept on talking, and her intensity only seemed to increase.
“Your spirit is imprisoned by this engram and it must be freed. There is only one way that can be done. We can help you do it.”
“We?” I said. She suddenly had my full attention. “Who are we ?”
But I didn’t really need her to answer. The image of the sapphire blue paper floated through my mind and I knew the answer for myself.
“The Blue Awareness,” I said.
“Yes,” Ravenette responded. She seemed pleased that I had identified her as a member of this group.
“No thanks,” I said. I placed my wineglass on her steel table and stood up to leave.
“You haven’t heard me out,” Ravenette complained. “I have so much more to tell you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do,” I said. “But the Blue Awareness is just not my thing.”
“How do you know?”
“I ran into you guys when I was a kid. I was living in the Haight and someone brought me to a Blue Awareness Center. Absolutely not for me.”
“Maybe you were too young to understand what we’re really about. We can help you.”
“I don’t think so. But I will give you this, I’m impressed. A psychic recruiter—that’s pretty good. Still—no thanks. I’ll just get going.”
I was trying to seem offhanded about getting myself
“What?” That was all I could think to say to this astonishing declaration. “What?”
I really was stunned. My presence on Earth? My spirit? Please. Those were code words that led into New Age territory, and I’d been through all that, explored just about all the alternative belief systems that had been popular at the tail end of the hippie years when I was young enough to be interested. But I wasn’t interested anymore. I had sat in enough communal halls, meeting house basements and crash pads to have heard more than I ever wanted to about the care and feeding of my spirit, aka, my soul. And I had heard it from more gurus, protogurus and their followers than even I could remember. That was certainly not what had drawn me here—to listen to a lecture about how to ensure my progress in the great, mystic beyond. Conversations about that kind of thing were vastly unsatisfying because they led nowhere, unless you could will yourself into the mindless acceptance of what always ended up being the equivalent of some fanatic’s drug dream, and I could not. Did not want to.
I suddenly felt very foolish. I had been drawn into the orbit of what I was just about ready to bet was some cult follower who used whatever real psychic ability she had (and that was still debatable) as bait. I was sure that was the case; in fact, some parts of the litany she was intoning sounded familiar, and not in a good way.
“Did you hear me, Laurie?” Ravenette said, leaning forward. “The engram must be neutralized.”
Engram . That was it—that was a word, a concept I had heard somewhere before. Thinking about this, I didn’t respond to Ravenette but she wasn’t bothered by my silence; she just kept on talking, and her intensity only seemed to increase.
“Your spirit is imprisoned by this engram and it must be freed. There is only one way that can be done. We can help you do it.”
“We?” I said. She suddenly had my full attention. “Who are we ?”
But I didn’t really need her to answer. The image of the sapphire blue paper floated through my mind and I knew the answer for myself.
“The Blue Awareness,” I said.
“Yes,” Ravenette responded. She seemed pleased that I had identified her as a member of this group.
“No thanks,” I said. I placed my wineglass on her steel table and stood up to leave.
“You haven’t heard me out,” Ravenette complained. “I have so much more to tell you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do,” I said. “But the Blue Awareness is just not my thing.”
“How do you know?”
“I ran into you guys when I was a kid. I was living in the Haight and someone brought me to a Blue Awareness Center. Absolutely not for me.”
“Maybe you were too young to understand what we’re really about. We can help you.”
“I don’t think so. But I will give you this, I’m impressed. A psychic recruiter—that’s pretty good. Still—no thanks. I’ll just get going.”
I was trying to seem offhanded about getting myself
Similar Books
