Well, I’m back from my vacation in the Dominican Republic, ready to get to work again. Rune and I had a great time doing pretty much absolutely nothing in the pristine paradise. I befriended a lot of his co-workers during those 5 days and discovered something interesting. Of course the conversation would eventually include the question: “What are your books about?” to which I grimace and answer, “Do you really want to open up that can of worms?” You’d think that those working in the arena of finance wouldn’t be inclined to delve into spiritual matters, so I was nervous about sharing. Fortunately, the puzzled and now intrigued person along with my wonderful husband would encourage me to spill the beans.

What amazed me is that many of them are fascinated by the subject of life after death and spirits. Some have experienced their own paranormal contact with deceased loved ones and have even communicated to them through mediums.  All of them plan to read Erik’s book. I think this might be true in much of the population: people secretly harboring curiosity and hope about the survival of consciousness after death. All they need is the green light to pour out their thoughts and questions. Have you guys encountered the same thing?

Some of you have asked me to ask Erik how spiritual tools work. In this post, you’ll find that your wish is my command!

Me: Here’s something a lot of people ask about. How do dowsing rods, pendulums and Ouija Boards work, And does your true self, in some cases, influence these?

Heather: Ah, this is a question I have, too.

Me: Oh, good!

(Pause)

Heather (to Erik): Okay, go!

Erik: Take the Ouija Board as an example. With it, when you put your hand on the little plate, what I do is put my energy on that and all my focus on one person’s hand. Usually that’s easier than focusing on other people. For some, it takes a second at first, but then I just kind of push it. I’m not really touching the person’s hand, but I’m pretty close, like this close.

(Heather shows a gap of about a centimeter between her index finger and thumb.)

Erik: And I just nudge it.

Me: With your hand? Your spirit hand?

Erik: Yes.

Me: Or you, as a ball of energy, I don’t know.

Erik: It just depends. For some spirits, they’ll use a hand especially if they just recently crossed over because they’re still kind of emotionally attached to the human body so they feel like they have to have a hand. Most of the time, I—

Heather: He’s showing me the image of a ball, blue, and surrounding it around someone’s hand. Now he’s showing me a picture of someone with a pendulum and he’s surrounding the hand, then causing the blue energy to go all the way down [the string] to the end of the pendulum. Then he swings it.

Me: Okay. Back to the, well, I use your eBoard or “Erik Board,” which is similar to a Ouija Board only a lot nastier language on it. That’s a whole nuther story.

Heather laughs.

Me: How come it doesn’t work for everybody?

Erik: Because people don’t believe. They have a lot of doubt. It could also be because they’re not meant to have it work for them. They’re not meant to have –sometimes I don’t come through for people because they don’t really believe in me. They’re just testing it out. They’re using it as a test, and I don’t like that. I want to use it as a way to talk to me, to get to know me and ask me questions. I don’t want to waste my time—

Heather (looking at Erik pretending to be shocked): Waste your time? Damn!

Erik: I don’t want to waste my time on people who are trying to test me. I know I exist. I don’t need to prove myself.

Me: That’s right, and that won’t probably work, anyway.

Heather: Yeah.

Me: You can almost never convince people like that. Pappa and me, we just can’t work it together. I can do it with Robert, no problem, but what is it? Pappa believes in this whole thing hook, line and sinker.

Erik: He’s not ready.

Me: Oh. Why?

Erik: Because in his mind he wants it, but at the same time, there’s something blocking him. If he were to actually work it in a way like it does with you, it would really put him out of sorts.

Me: He can make it work with Robert. It’s just he and I can’t do it.

(Long pause as Heather listens to Erik)

Heather (to Erik): No.

(Pause)

Heather: Not enough energy? What are you talking about?

(Pause)

Heather: Or is it—no, you don’t have to be a medium to use it.

(Pause)

Heather: Okay. Okay. I’ll—

She laughs.

Heather: So, we’re fighting over words. Anyway, he says with you and him, the energy is not clicking. (To Erik, surprised) What do you mean? But they’re married!

Heather laughs.

Me: Yeah, what the heck is that?

Erik: Listen to me, Heather!

Heather: Now he’s yelling at me! Okay, I’ll stop fighting.

She laughs again.

Erik: You two are different types of energy, so when you’re together trying to work it, that makes it hard to make it work.

Heather (To Erik): Is that correct?

She doesn’t want to be fussed at again!

(Pause)

Heather: He said, “Yes!” I heard a loud, “Yes!”

Me: Well, what’s specifically happening to our energy?

Erik: It’s in two different places, and it’s not working together.

Me: Okay.

Heather (To Erik): So what can they do? Can he make it work? But before, you said that he wasn’t ready.

Me: He isn’t ready to get his energy to work with my energy, maybe.

Heather: Yeah, I think that’s what he was talking about. (To Erik) So what can they do to make it work?

(Long pause)

Erik: One, it’ll just take time. Two, try sitting closer together and putting your hands on top of each other’s.

Me: Oh, okay!

Heather: And what else?

Erik: Try that out first.

Me: Okay. That’s a great idea! One person can’t work it alone, right?

Erik: Yeah, they can.

Me: Really?

Erik: If you want.

Heather: I’ve done it by myself.

Me: So can I use it myself? Do you think it would work, Erik?

Erik: You can always try it and see what happens.

Me: Okay.

Erik: For some people it’ll work and for some it won’t.

Me: Can your own consciousness, I mean, maybe I’m asking you a question, Erik, but the answer might come out wrong because my consciousness might influence it, especially if I’m emotionally invested in the answer. Does that happen?

Heather: I’m nervous for this answer.

Heather and I laugh.

Heather: Can that happen, Erik?

Erik: Absolutely.

Heather: Fuck.

Me: Oh no!

Heather: No!

Me: So, have some of the answers I’ve asked not really been answered by you but have been answered by my own wishful thinking?

Heather: My heart’s beating so fast. I’m so scared!

She giggles.

Heather: Have they?

Erik: No. Not with you, but with some people, it has. What they need to do is—it’s a lot like doing a reading—you need to take a deep breath and clear your mind and not have any expectations set. That can influence it a lot.

(Pause)

Heather (pouting in jest): Stop using me as an example.

Me: You’re picking on her!

Erik: With Heather, she gets so scared for a certain answer that her hand shakes too much, and I can’t answer.

Heather (laughing): He’s making fun of me!

Me: Uh oh.

Heather: I’m so worried my ego influences it, but he says it doesn’t, but sometimes when people try to use especially the pendulum because [the spirit] has a lot of contact with it, and it requires them to hold it steady, when they’re trying to ask a really important question or even with the eBoard, it’s too much. There’s too much shaking, and there’s too much energy in that hand, so it can affect the answer or make it not move.

Erik: And that’s also why I don’t answer sometimes. There’s too much expectation going on.

Me: Yeah. Well, can you visualize your energy flowing in a certain way, or is there anything you can do to—

Erik: Absolutely.

Heather: He’s using a quote I always say: “Just because you’re seeing it in your head doesn’t mean it’s not real.” It’s from Harry Potter, not from me.

Erik: It really helps to visualize, so try to set a color you want for your energy. I want it to come from your heart chakra. Then imagine it going through your arm to your hand and making a bubble [around the planchette.] Make sure it’s a light color because light colors are usually easier to work with.

Me: Oh, so like baby blue?

Erik: Yes.

Me: Would that be a good one?

Erik: Yes. Baby blue.

Me: Okay. That’s interesting. Pappa and I can imagine the same color in the bubble?

Erik: Oo, yeah. That’s a good idea. Do that.

Me: See? I’m not without some skills.

Heather chuckles.

Me: What about the pendulum? Sometimes it seems like I can influence it just thinking of the answer I want.

Erik: Again, you need to clear your mind and not set the expectation because that sends a really dense energy that’s hard to work through.

Me: Is it you that moves the pendulum or our true self?

(Pause)

Me: Or either?

Erik: What are you talking about? Are you talking about when it’s expectation controlling it?

Me: No, just period.

Erik: It’s me controlling it.

Me: Sometimes it’s helps me when I say to distract myself, ‘I wonder what the answer will be; I wonder what the answer will be; I wonder what the answer will be,’ over and over so I don’t have a specific answer in my mind.

Erik: Sometimes, that’s not the best idea. Sometimes it’s best to just keep your mind blank. I know that’s a hard concept to grasp, but try to just focus on the color of your hand or on making yourself lighter.

Me: Oh, okay.

Erik: That makes it easier to access your energy. That’s better than when you’re thinking, “I don’t want to influence it. I hope I’m not influencing it. I hope I’m not moving my hand.” That’s that nervousness, that anxiety that’s hard to work through.

Me: Oh, I can imagine. Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, because it’s anxiety. Dowsing rods. Tell us about that.

Heather: I don’t know what those are. (To Erik) What are those?

Me: Those little rods you hold (I pantomime using them.) and like I’ll try to find Erik, and I’ll say, ‘Erik, stand right in front of me,’ and the rods will x marks the spot when I get to him. It’s what they used to find water in the olden days. Actually, I think they still do, I don’t know.

Heather: Yeah, they do. I know what you’re talking about now. Yeah. (To Erik) Okay, go.

Erik: I’ll make my energy really big, like I’ll think of something really big like an elephant.

He loves elephants. He talks about them in the new book.

Erik: It makes my energy really loud. Everything is energy, and the dowsing rods are attracted to the most powerful energy in the room. Of course there’s other energy in the room, so I have to make mine louder for you to find me. So say, I like to play games—

Heather (smiling): We know that!

Me: Everybody knows that!

Erik: Maybe I’ll put two of me in the room and people can’t find me because everyone’s going everywhere in a circle.

Me: That’s what you did at one of the Channeling Erik Weekends! Everybody was supposed to find Erik, and we noticed we were all turning in circles! We thought you were just running around us.

Heather: That’s what he was talking about!

Me: Erik!

Heather (chuckling): That’s so mean!

She laughs, covering her mouth.

Me: I know! Well, we got a good laugh out of it.

Erik: Ding.

Me: Okay. Anything else you want to talk about with these sorts of things? Tarot cards. What about them? How do they work?

Erik: People often put expectation in them. They really want a certain answer, and they’ll get it because they’re influencing it. So it’s the same thing with the pendulum and eBoard or the dowsing rods. You have to clear your mind and stop putting so much expectation into it. That’s why shuffling your own cards is not super effective.

Heather: Not effective?

Erik: When you’re doing it for yourself, it can get sketchy. You can get the answer you want. So it’s best to have a friend do it. Even then, a friend could want that answer for you, too and influence it.

Me: Well what if you don’t let [your friend] know the question?

Erik: Thoughts are energy so even then, it can create that influence. That’s why it’s important to clear your mind, take a deep breath and just let go. Just let go of expectations.

Me: How do tarot cards work anyway?

Heather: He’s showing me an image of someone holding a stack of cards, and they kind of shuffle it. Then their higher self or spirit guide, while the shuffling’s happening—or sometimes they manifest a certain card to come on top even though it’s not.

Me: Oh!

Heather: That can happen?

Erik: Yes. So they’ll pull it, and it’ll be the one the spirit guide or higher self picked. Most of the time they control it while the person is shuffling the cards.

Heather: But how do they do that? He’s showing me an image of all this energy around the card. So they’re manifesting it, then.

Erik: Well, yeah. In manifesting the card, the energy around the card will make that certain card show up or it’ll change it.

Heather: It’s so cool. You know like when they do the, um, what’s that? Transfiguration? Like the other day, I thought I saw Erik walking down the street. It’s like that.

That’s when Erik projects his image on another person’s face.

Heather: It’s something like that with the cards.

Fascinating!