From Actor to Healer: Alan Rickman's New Life as a Spirit Guide, Book 1

Chapter 1 - January 14, 2016

Exhausted after teaching Reiki Level I and II all weekend with my friend Wayne, I wanted to relax before going to sleep. In the morning, I'd be returning to my weekday job as an administrative assistant.

For several weeks, a barrage of commercials on the Syfy Channel had announced that the network was premiering an old science fiction spoof titled Galaxy Quest that day, the second Sunday of January 2016. I'd forgotten about the film as I'd only seen it once on TV, soon after its release in 1999. I had been an ardent Star Trek fan in the 1990s and attended about a half dozen Star Trek conventions while in high school and college. Unquestionably I could identify with the fans in Galaxy Quest who dressed up in costumes and stood in long lines for an autograph from the actors. Remembering that the movie was hilarious, I knew I'd get a kick out of seeing it again after all these years.

After getting ready for bed, I switched on the small flat-screen TV on the dresser and curled up under the covers. As it was a few minutes after nine, I missed the opening credits of Galaxy Quest as well as the first few scenes, but I didn't care as I figured I'd doze off before the film ended anyway.

I had forgotten most of the storyline, so it was as if watching the movie again for the first time. The plot kept my interest and I frequently turned over in bed so that I could stay awake and continue watching.

During an action sequence, the spaceship's power source was damaged. As the crew tried to determine how to make the necessary repairs, one of the men cried out in frustration, lamenting about the ship's condition. He was a sympathetic Spock-like character played by a British actor wearing a humorous alien-looking headpiece.

Suddenly, Spirit(2) piped up. The voice was clear, gentle, and unmistakable in my mind: "Pay attention to this man. He's essential to your spiritual path."

This jolted me out of my half-slumber. I was accustomed to hearing Spirit during meditations and Reiki sessions. However, during the countless movies and TV shows I'd watched, Spirit had never talked about actors.

I sat up and blurted out, "What?" But I heard nothing further.

If it hadn't been for Spirit, I wouldn't have paid any attention to this actor. I probably would have finished watching the movie and forgotten all about him, as I had years ago when I had first seen the film.

The British actor clearly was talented, and I wondered who he was. Had I seen him in anything else? My curiosity was piqued, so I opened the web browser on my smartphone to look up the movie's cast. A page came up that displayed headshots of the actors with their names underneath. I scrolled up and down until I finally found the man I was looking for: Alan Rickman. His name and face were unfamiliar to me.

Tapping on Alan's picture took me to another page that listed his filmography. Then I scrolled through a huge photo collage that depicted the actor at various ages and made up for a variety of roles. He had an impressive body of work that spanned many decades. However, other than Galaxy Quest, the only movies I'd heard of were Harry Potter, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I had never seen these films, though, and didn't know what characters Alan had played. I'd missed blockbusters like Die Hard because violent action flicks weren't my style. Since I never married and didn't have kids, I ignored children's stories. When the Harry Potter books and film series came out, I was immersing myself in spiritual literature as an adult in my twenties and thirties.

From what I could tell, Alan must have been an accomplished actor, so I figured I would like his work. I then left the web browser open on Alan's filmography page so I could refer to it in the future and watch his movies in my spare time.