LUCID

CHAPTER 16

I rose the next morning later than usual, still groggy and drained from the intense emotions I'd experienced during the night. My eyes were red from the tears. I drank my coffee in silence. Ember seemed to know what I'd been through and respected my need for peace, and quiet, and absolutely no disturbance.

Arlo didn't know, of course, and came bouncing in like a cartoon character in a Saturday morning children's TV show – excited, noisy, and irritating as hell. God bless him, but I wasn't in the mood for his 'memory-transference'.

"Can't you just write out the stories?" I said. "And I can read them at my leisure, later... or tomorrow..."

A glance, and probably a quick telepathic message from Ember, explained to him all he needed to know about my condition, and he calmed himself down.

"Reading stories will not prepare you sufficiently for a trip into the Void," he said, gently, but with an earnest tone. "Transference is the best way. But I can come back when you're feeling stronger."

"No," I said, "you're right. Just give me time to get some more coffee inside me and I'll be ready."

"Before you start," Ember said, "I'll give you a short healing. That'll help you, you'll see."

After a couple more coffees, I said I was ready for Ember's healing. I sat back on a recliner. Ember placed her hands on my head and gently massaged my skull. But it seemed like she was massaging my psyche too because I felt my emotions lifting and re-aligning. A surge of new energy flushed through me and I felt lighter, brighter and clearer than ever before. Wow! – what a power in those hands! No wonder the sex is so good, I thought.

I was completely refreshed, but we ate a long breakfast and drank another couple of coffees before I began my session with Arlo.

"So Arlo..." I said as we ate, "you've got all these nightmares stored in your head... don't they ever bother you?"

"I have a big head," he said smiling. "But I'm joking of course – the memories aren't stored in my head, they are stored in the Universal Mind, the Universal sub-conscious, or, as some call it, the Akashic field. So the memories themselves aren't really transferred to me, but rather I link with their location in the Universal Mind. It's more a channeling of information than a storing of it."

"And when you transfer those memories to someone else... you don't feel like you're experiencing them yourself?"

"No – I hardly notice them. It's mostly an automatic process. I'm aware that it's happening, but it's like – to use an Earth analogy – being aware of a TV that's on in another corner of the room. It catches my attention now and again, but I can turn away from it and focus on other things." He took a sip of coffee and continued, "And just to be clear on the matter, I'm not actually transferring the memories to someone else either, but rather tuning their minds to the location of the information. This is how all memory works, nothing is actually stored in the mind of an individual, it's all in the Universal Mind, every memory of every event, and the individual mind is just accessing the memories it most resonates with – and that's usually the personal memories."

"So I can let these memories – these nightmares – not bother me either?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes... but don't try to ignore them. Be objective and disconnected emotionally as you experience them, but accustom yourself to the details. The more acutely you observe, the less surprised you will be by what you encounter in the Void."

"Okay – so let's get on with it," I said.

I leaned back again on the recliner, this time with Arlo behind me and his hands on my head. "Relax," he said, "it'll be just like watching TV. And remember, you can turn it off any time you like."