When I was about five, the dramatized story of Peter Pan came on television. I loved everything about the story. I fell in love with Peter Pan (not realizing he was played by a woman, Mary Martin). Tinkerbell was a bright sparkling little light who darted about during the show, working magic. I loved the idea of Tinkerbell having magic fairy dust she could sprinkle around to create wondrous effects.

Best of all, at the very end of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell sprinkled fairydust toward the audience and told them that if they really, truly believed, they would be able to fly – just like Wendy and her brothers. I KNEW that I knew how to fly – I could feel it in the very core of my being – and after the movie ended, I got up on our raised brick hearth and jumped down over and over again, trying to take flight. I never could, but I never gave up hoping. And my love for magic and capabilities that exceeded our everyday reality never abated.

As an adult I searched among various philosophies, religions and the paranormal, interested in finding out what humanity’s true nature was – and if there was any part of us that transcended everyday reality and was greater than the apparent solidity of the material world around us. That part of us I was seeking was the spiritual. I wasn’t so much interested in ghosts, although I believed they probably existed. I was interested in finding out what the potential capabilities of living human beings were.

I came to believe that, somewhat like the X-Men and Superman, we have the potential to overcome our physical limitations and affect ourselves and our world through the power of the spirit – even to the extent of eventually being able to develop wondrous abilities. I also began to find out that many of us, perhaps even most of us, have untapped “paranormal” abilities that simply have not been exercised or developed.

I experienced some of these abilities myself on a minor level – such as “seeing” or getting a visual impression of a place far away from my physical location, or being able to know that someone was trying to reach me. I have also had firsthand experience of being in the presence of a loved and capable individual who was outside a body, yet could communicate to me and manipulate physical objects via direct spiritual means.

So to me, such abilities would not only make life much more interesting, but they would enable us to do good on a broader scale. The knowledge and certainty of one’s spiritual side could make us braver, calmer, and more powerful in a good way.

I finally realized that someday I would truly be able to make my dreams come true and fly – not perhaps with my body, but certainly as a free spiritual being.

All the best,
D.E. Lamont