Mystic Vancouver
In
Mystic Vancouver, the world of the spirit is closer than you think.In mystic
Vancouver, the world of the spirit is closer than you think by
Louise Phillips. God moves in mysterious ways. These days, healing with
crystals, balancing chakras and drawing mandalas, along with New Age
events like the lantern procession, co-exist with traditional belief
systems as legitimate ways to connect with the divine. In Vancouver,
whether you adhere to an organized religion or follow the do-it-yourself
route, chances are you can find a spiritual pick-me-up here.
People who pray or meditate regularly as a means of making contact with
a universal truth, use rhythm to achieve an altered state of
consciousness: such as the mystic syllable “om” used as a mantra in
Hinduism and Buddhism, or Christianity’s Gregorian chant. Aboriginal
cultures, too, employ steady beats in drumming ceremonies. The power of
sound vibration, which can alter brain waves to theta levels, has long
been used in healing. At the West Coast Institute of Mystic Arts (1591
Bowser Ave., North Vancouver; 604-982-0099), visitors at drop-in
“healing circle” sessions using hand drums or rattles learn to
achieve a natural high. Instructor Alannah Jantzen’s training employs
science and old wisdom: she’s a registered massage therapist,
psychotherapist, drum-maker and shamanic spiritual healer. “When you
open to the mystery of the spirit,” says Jantzen, “magic begins to
open to you.”
It’s also possible to attend a traditional Cree prairie pipe ceremony
at the institute. A trained First Nations ceremonial leader, expressing
respect to the appropriate elders, first has participants sit in a
circle and engage in a smudging ceremony. The leader burns sacred herbs
such as sage in a bowl or shell, and all present pass the smoke over
themselves. The smudging, an acknowledgment of sacredness, is used to
release negative energies. In the dignified, simple pipe ceremony, each
person takes a turn to pray, everyone smokes the pipe, and all pray in
unison.
Unlike most religions, says Jan McConachy, Wicca is not listed in
the Yellow Pages, but devotees conduct workshops, or sabbats, at the
institute. McConachy belongs to the Reclaiming Tradition of witchcraft,
a branch that wishes to “reclaim” the ancient connection to the
Goddess. These modern witches of both sexes respect that “all of life
is sacred and interconnected.” They see no need for an intermediary
between this world and the spirit world, maintaining that everyone is an
expression of the divine with the potential to be a shaman.
In other institute workshops, would-be mystics can also learn to channel
divine energy, choose crystals and read a tarot deck.
While tarot holds no religious significance, it’s probably the most
available and popular of the “mystic arts” locally. A
pre-Renaissance divination tool, the deck is used to reveal spiritual
insights in the subject’s life journey. Institute founder Kelly Oswald
says that a good psychic reader is accurate 80 to 85 percent of the
time. “As a clairvoyant,” says Oswald, “I pick up on people’s
energies.”
Visitors looking for ghosts need stray no further than local art
museums. The Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St) reportedly boasts its
own wandering spirit, nicknamed “Charlie,” supposedly the restless
shade of murdered immigration inspector William Charles Hopkinson. At
the time he was shot, during a high-profile trial in 1914, the building
served as the courthouse. Staff are divided about Charlie, some
dismissing his spectral presence as a media myth, others insisting he
creates cold spots in the basement “catacombs,” the maze of former
cells now used for storage. They are not in the public area of the
gallery, whereas hauntings at the Gallery at Ceperley House (6344 Deer
Lake Ave., Burnaby) are well documented all over the former mansion. The
image of a woman thought to be Grace Ceperley, wife of the original
owner, occasionally appears to visiting art lovers and employees.
For souls still wandering in mortal guise, Wiccan Jan McConachy says,
“Winter is the time for going into the dark, for inner contemplation,
like the Earth.” In Vancouver, the path to spiritual regeneration is
well lit.
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