This weekend I attended the UFO & ET Congress which is held semi-annually at a modest venue in Bordentown, New Jersey. The featured speaker was Travis Walton, the Arizona logger taken aboard an alien space craft November 5, 1975 and held for five harrowing days while a massive search was organized below.

Walton's ordeal was dramatized in the 1993 movie "Fire in the Sky" which was based on Walton's own book, "The Walton Experience" (1978). The book was republished in 1997 in an expanded format under the title of "Fire in the Sky: The Walton Experience" and is available on Amazon, as well as through Walton's website.

The Walton case is notable among abduction reports insofar as the saucer shaped alien craft reported to have taken Walton was clearly seen by six of Walton's coworkers. According to all reports, a beam of blue-green energy emanated from the craft and struck Walton as the ship was apparently powering up for take off. Believing Walton to be dead, the loggers left the scene in the hope of getting help or weapons. When they returned, Walton and the craft were gone.

In his presentation, Walton expressed the belief that he was essentially struck by accident during the powering up process. In the years since the incident, he stated that he had come to believe that he was taken aboard the craft because he was in need of medical attention. In response to questioning about the intent of ship's crew, Walton referred to the incident as an "ambulance call."

Walton corrected discrepancies between the film and the actual events of the case. Red herrings shown in the film, such as a UFO magazine on the seat of the logging truck and Walton's coworkers agreeing to "stick to the story" prior to meeting with law enforcement were dramatic devices intended to increase suspense. During the presentation, Walton was careful to set the record state on the actions of his fellow loggers who quite understandably felt themselves in no position to engage the alien spaceship unarmed.

While Walton may have been unconscious or sedated during much of the time he spent aboard the craft, the events he did recall and share were detailed and convincing and he was able to provide artist's renderings of the alien crew. More info may be available as well in Walton's book which is high on my reading list.

Overall, I found Walton's presentation to be a credible and articulate account of a truly amazing experience. I am pleased to have had the opportunity to hear him!

You can learn more about Walton, his experience and subsequent investigations in his book Fire in the Sky: The Walton Experience or through his website at Travis-Walton.com.

Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon with my good friend Tara catching up and reading Tarot. I received a wonderful reading (as always) and I hope I gave at least a fair one in return. Our questions, as is usual, revolved around career and spirit and how best to combine the two.

My question concerned my problems with the new manuscript, the true nature of my life purpose and my problems with writer's block. Of the latter I will say that, as a former 10 page a day writer. it really can happen to anyone!

Tara began by showing me her new Doreen Virtue Goddess Deck. Looking through the cards, I pulled out the Kali card (at right) looked at the picture and said, I love this card. Surprisingly, it was Tara's favorite as well. This was the first synchronicity.

We set the Goddess Deck aside. I read for Tara and then she read for me. Crazy accurate as always she helped me identify my problems in regard to writing. The cards indicated potential. My blockage was represented by the nine of swords. Tara told me to look at internalized negative concepts from my past and assured me that my present darkness of thought was part of the already initiated process of releasing these impediments.

Tara's always unexpected insight and lovely spiritual energy made me feel as if she had reached into the darkness surrounding me in regard to my life path and gave me a firm tug in the direction I needed to go. I will always be grateful.

At the end of the reading, Tara pulled a single card from the Goddess Deck. And, you guessed it, it was Kali. Tara handed me the card and this time I didn't just look at the picture but read: "The old must be released so that the new can enter." Thinking how synchronistic this was, I suddenly remember the Shiva statue I had given Tara years ago. I asked myself, I wonder if that statue could also represent Kali? As if on cue, Tara said, that she found herself thinking of the Shiva statue as Kali.

For me, three such 'coincidences' are an affirmation of spirit and I am working hard at incorporating the message I was given!

Please check back next week for my review of The Goddess Guidance Deck.

What is really amazing about Edgar Cayce is how many topics now considered the province of New Age thought or even new age physics are contained within his readings.  This a revelation to me, having come to Cayce's reading rather late and in a round about way.

I first read Edgar Cayce in high school.  The material was not for me at that time or perhaps the book I chose (now lost in the mists of time) was not a good one.  At any rate, I sought my spiritual truths elsewhere then and continued to do so until relatively recently.  I owe this late return to Cayce to a series of circumstances.

The first was the encouragement of my good friend Tara, who has been an amazing spiritual catalyst for me.  Tara is a longtime Cayce fan and we have discovered over time that what resonates with her in a spiritual sense almost always resonates with me (and vice versa).  Her enthusiasm for Cayce sparked an interest in me and I bought two Cayce audio's which I have been listening to off and on over the course of the summer.

While I enjoyed the recordings, I found myself distracted by another topic until a conversation with another friend brought me back to Cayce.  Checking out an internet page on Cayce's readings at the height of hurricane Irene, I read (all in one paragraph) how Cayce claimed that flooding in New York City, as well as strife in Libya, Egypt and Syria would signal the coming of the new age. 

Cayce said a great many other things as well, but these particular predictions were surprisingly timely and this timeliness and the 'coincidence' of three recent and compelling references to Cayce spoke to me.  I decided to give the Cayce material another try.  Instead of returning to the original audio, however, I purchased another recording, Edgar Cayce on Vibrations: Spirit in Motion by Kevin J. Todeschi. For me, there could not have made a better choice. 

Cayce gave thousands of trance state psychic readings on a multitude of topics.  Most concerned the treatment of various medical conditions, while others directly related to a variety of topics, covering subjects as wide ranging as reincarnation, religion, ancient civilizations (including Atlantis), meditation, spiritual dimensions, the akashic record, dream interpretation and science.

In his more scientific readings, Cayce repeatedly stated that everything -  including food, people, light, location, and color - existed in the form of vibration - and went on to talk about what would later become the law of attraction, energy medicine and what I have always thought of as the harmony of place.  If I had read this info in high school it would not have taken me this long to develop an interest in Cayce's readings!

According to Cayce, different locations hold very distinct vibrations and people may resonate with specific places in highly individual and spiritually significant ways.  Others agree with this of course.  Eckhart Tolle says in A New Earth that is was necessary to align himself with the vibration of the Canadian Northwest to write that particular book.  And while physical relocation is a frequent component of spiritual journeys, it may be that Cayce was the first to explain specifically why this is.

In a trance state, Cayce spoke quite definitively on the vibration of place.   Going as far as to recommend that certain individuals relocate for health reasons and that all persons consume local produce as fruits and vegetables grown locally would be more harmonious with their own vibrations.  When advising his own spiritual study group, Cayce gave readings which directed individuals who wished to share their spiritual understanding with others to specific geographic locations where they would be the most effective teachers.  All this, Cayce stated related to vibration.

In my own life, I have always been extremely sensitive to the vibration of place.  Finding the Northeast Pennsylvania of many years ago harmonious while other places were not.  For as long as I can remember, certain locations such as the deep woods or oceans have had a profound effect on me and they continue to do so.  Going back to childhood, I have maintained that I would know the energy of my grandparent's old farmhouse if someone had taken me there blindfolded and my reaction to that place as a child was almost overwhelming.

Todeschi's book provides an excellent reference on this phenomena.  In it, the reader will find comprehensive summaries of Cayce's work as well as invaluable transcripts of dozens of Cayce readings on the topic and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Cayce, energy medicine or the science of spirituality.  The author's book on Cayce readings on the akashic record (Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Record) is on my reading list as well.