"The Tip of the Crystal"

What's Your Real Name?

  I was invited to a party which was taking place in west Sedona a couple weeks ago. I entered the house and noticed that there were groups of people in each room talking and drinking. Sandalwood incense hung in the air. I wandered aimlessly and found myself in a candlelit room in which three men and a woman were sitting at a glass table. They had a large deck of cards in front of them. I couldn't understand why anyone would want to play cards in almost complete darkness. I came closer and introduced myself.

  "Hi, my name's Paul," I said to the man shuffling the deck.

  "Hello Paul, I'm Journey."

  "Journey? Well, what's your real name?" I asked innocently, knowing that it would be difficult to keep a straight face if I had to address anyone with a name like that.

  "What do you mean my real name?" He looked at me as if the question came from someone called Idiot. He stopped shuffling the deck of cards. The entire group was staring at me. I realized that I must have committed a very serious New Age faux pas and began the process of foot from mouth extraction.

  "I mean, were you born with that name? It's nice, I guess, but I can't imagine anyone having been given a name like that, unless his parents were on acid at the time of his birth." Nobody laughed.

  "The name I was born with no longer resonates with my being," he said, ignoring my attempt at humor. "Journey expresses my essence."

  "Are you suggesting that essence changes?" I asked.

  "I'm simply saying that the name on my birth certificate doesn't adequately describe who I am. I consulted a spirit guide who led me through some past life regressions. In one life I was on the boat with Columbus. In another life I was the most trusted of messengers for Anthony and Cleopatra. It seems I've always traveled extensively. The name Sidney Rosenblatt didn't seem to represent my totality so I changed it to Journey." I realized that the party couldn't get much more interesting than this group so I decided to pass some time with Journey and the others.

  "Oh, well, pleased to meet you Journey. Do you mind if I join you for a bit?"

  "Not at all." They urged me to sit with them and made room at the table. My eyes were getting accustomed to the candlelight as Journey introduced me to the rest of the group.

  "Paul, to your left is Mercury. To your right is Mankind. And next to me is the lovely Kachina Eagle Feather." I wasn't about to make another comment about name selection. I smiled amiably and asked what they were playing.

  "We're not playing anything," said Mankind. "We're drawing Tarot cards. These are Tarot cards. You shuffle the deck while thinking about something. It can be a question or a problem...anything. The deck will become charged with your energy. You then pull a card and look up what the card means in a book like this, or have someone like Journey interpret it." I nodded and kept silent as the activity resumed. I wanted to ask Kachina Eagle Feather if she had a nickname. Would Ms. Feather be too formal? Mankind shuffled the deck. His eyes were closed and he rocked back and forth in his chair. He drew a card.

  "Oh no," he said, "I don't want this one! I'm going to pull another one." He had drawn a card that had the word "death" written at the top of it. It bore a well crafted representation of the Grim Reaper.

  "I thought that you were only allowed to pull one card, and that it would be the appropriate card for what you're thinking," I said. I wasn't being argumentative at this point, I was simply curious as to how the procedure worked.

  "You can do anything you like," answered Mankind. "I don't like the card I got so I'm going to pull another." With that he drew from the deck once again. He didn't like that card either. He pulled two more cards before settling on one he liked.

  "Ah, that's better. Here you go Journey." He handed the card to Journey. Journey looked at the card for a moment and then began:

  "You are coming to a place in your life where you will manifest whatever you desire. If you follow your divine guidance no obstacles will be too great. You have to be more in tune with your higher self so that you can succesfully carry out your role as a leader of men. Focus on your heart chakra." For a while I thought that he was speaking in code. What did all these words mean. Manifest? Higher self? Divine guidance? Heart chakras? Journey continued and Mankind kept nodding his head in agreement to everything that was said.

  "Paul," said Journey, "would you like to try this?"

  "Sure, what do I have to do?"

  "Simply shuffle the deck for as long as you like. As you shuffle, think about a specific question. When you're done shuffling, choose a card and give it to me."

  "O.K." I shuffled the deck. I couldn't focus on anything specific. I wondered if there were any attractive women with simple names in the other rooms. I drew a card and gave it to Journey. He looked at it and then showed it to the others. They all commented on the positive aspects of the card I had just picked. I began to feel important; as if I had done something worthy, but then realized that I had done nothing more than shuffle a deck of cards and choose one from the middle.

  "You're a very strong individual," began Journey, "who is always questioning the validity of the metaphysical." His voice was almost instantaneously relegated to the background of my consciousness. I wasn't about to get excited with a psychological profile which started from the obvious traits of my character and then quickly dissolved into the miasma of general human attributes. I looked at Journey with feigned interest as he channeled my profile. I knew my reading was about finished when he said:

  "Deep down you're a very emotional and loving person. You will find what you're looking for when you stop looking." The last bit was good advice, for anybody.
 

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