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

Chapter 21 - The Restless Reiki Session

When Alan and I first began conversing, I hid our partnership from all my friends. Before telling anyone about him, I wanted to ensure he wasn't a figment of my imagination. After weeks of compelling conversations and healing exchanges, I was satisfied that I wasn't hallucinating. In fact, now I was bursting at the seams to get this secret burden off my chest.

I wanted to start with someone I could trust. Wayne was the first person who came to mind, since he was a close friend and had frequent spirit interactions. We had planned a trip to Sedona, Arizona, in June 2016 to obtain certification as professional members of the International Center for Reiki Training (ICRT). Completing all levels of Reiki training with certified ICRT teachers was required, even though Wayne and I already were Reiki Masters through a different school. I would be alone in the car with Wayne for four-and-a-half hours each way, so this would be the perfect opportunity to tell him about Alan.

When I asked Alan about it, though, he said, "Don't tell anyone yet. Bringing more attention to me will change the energy between us and make it harder for us to communicate. I am still healing from this life. It takes energy to hold the space for us to communicate. I have not mastered it yet." Perhaps this was the reason he'd told me to remain silent after seeing Eye in the Sky at the cinema, when the Goo Goo Dolls song "Name" played on the car radio.

I respected that Alan was still healing, and I didn't want to do anything that might jeopardize our relationship. He had come a long way in a short time as a new guide.

I asked Alan repeatedly about it during the next couple weeks, but there was no change. Finally I gave up and said, "I'm tired of trying to figure out whether or not to talk about what happened. So I'll leave it up to you. Guide me. When the time is right, let me know if you want me to tell someone about you."

* * * * *

I used to get together every few months with my friend Marie who is a Reiki practitioner. We would usually meet for lunch and catch up on each other's goings-on. By this time in 2016, I'd known her for more than a decade. In her mid-forties, she'd been active in the spiritual community for years.

The Saturday before my trip to Sedona, we had planned a lunch meeting followed by a Reiki treatment at my house. This would be Alan's first time seeing her. Since she was highly intuitive, I was curious to know what he would think of her.

Marie and I chatted for a couple hours over soup and salad. I carefully avoided any slips about Alan. Afterward, we walked out to our cars so that she could follow me to my house.

As I opened the door of my car, Alan's face appeared in my mind's eye beside me. He smiled mischievously like the Cheshire Cat and said, "I like her, Sonya. She's just like you." Then he disappeared.

I had prepared my meditation room for Marie ahead of time, so the massage table was ready with pillows and blankets. As she lay on the table, she asked me for help with a minor health concern. I told her I'd ask Spirit for messages while sending her Reiki. Once she was comfortable, I covered her with a blanket and turned on a meditation CD. When she closed her eyes, I proceeded to channel Reiki to her. I didn't get any significant messages from Spirit during the session. Afterward, I turned off the music and gently laid a hand on her shoulder to awaken her.

Once Marie reoriented herself and sat up, I asked how she was feeling. I expected her to say she felt more peaceful or refreshed, which was a typical reaction after a Reiki session.

Marie paused a moment, unsure what to say. It wasn't unusual to slip into such a deep state of relaxation that talking right away was difficult. So I sat on the futon under the window and waited until she was ready.

A few minutes later, she turned and stared at me, wide-eyed. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she spoke. "That was the most restless Reiki session I've ever had!"

"What happened?" I asked. No one had ever looked so stunned after a treatment.

"There was a man with me the whole time! He held me and talked to me and danced with me. I don't even remember what he said. He felt like a brother and a father and a teacher all rolled into one."

My mouth almost dropped open. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Did he tell you who he was?"

"No."

"Did you see his face? What did he look like?"

"His face was in shadow the whole time. I didn't see what he looked like."

So Alan had revealed his presence but not his identity.

"Alan!" I shouted in my mind. "Alan! I can't believe you just did that!" Only recently I'd asked him to guide me when to tell my friends about him. But I assumed he would ask me to tell Wayne, not Marie. Even though she was a longtime spiritual friend, I didn't think she was ready to hear this. Obviously, Alan thought otherwise.

I took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to start. "I know who you saw," I said finally. "I have a new spirit guide. He revealed himself to you because he wants me to tell you about him."

I asked Marie if she had time to stay a while, since this would be a long story. She said yes, so we left the meditation room and made ourselves comfortable at the dining room table.

I opened my phone and quickly scrolled through dozens of photos of Alan, looking for a flattering shot. I selected a black-and-white picture where he appeared to be in his early fifties and was smiling at the camera.

"Do you recognize him?" I handed my phone to Marie.

She barely glanced at the photo before she spoke. "Oh! I know who that is. He's a good actor. Give me a minute . . . Alan Rickman! Yes, of course, I recognize him. I really liked him in Robin Hood."

"He died a few months ago."

"Yeah, I remember that." Marie's eyes bulged then. "No! He's your spirit guide?"

I spent the next two hours telling her what had happened. She sat speechless the whole time. Marie was normally highly talkative; I'd never seen her sit still without speaking for two hours.

To my relief, she believed my story. "You weren't going to tell me, were you? All this was going on, and you weren't going to tell me?"

"Can you blame me? Well, you can thank Alan. He wanted me to tell you."

Before Marie left, I swore her to secrecy.

She looked at me wide-eyed again. "Are you kidding? I won't say a word to anyone. Who would believe me?"

I knew exactly how she felt.