The Most Harry Potter-y Thing I Ever Experienced!
Um, so I’ve seen a lot of magical things in this metaphysical and new age-y life of mine but THIS one is by far, the most absolutely Harry Potter-y thing I’ve ever experienced, and that’s saying a LOT!!!
Reading billets
My friend Normandi has been telling me about this guy for a few years now and I just didn’t get what all the fuss was about. During our retreat weekend the opportunity to sit in on a billet reading event with him came up and since she said I should be there, I signed up. Let me tell you what’s up with it so you’ll understand why there’s such a huge fuss over it all.
There’s this practice within the Spiritualist community called Reading Billets. Over the centuries frauds have certainly been rampant and debunked BUT I’ll tell you that what I saw and experienced was not that! The premise of the practice is that the reader is blindfolded, holds papers we each wrote on that evening when we arrived, speaks to spirits of loved ones who’ve passed away or guides or both, gives helpful insights into questions you have (whether you wrote them down or not) and while he’s doing this, a closed-lidded basket with oil pastels, colored pencils, markers and pens and a brand new package of completely blank 3x5 cards sits on the table at least 3 feet away from him. When he’s done reading everyone and giving messages, he opens the basket and presents each of us with a drawing that has our name on the back.
The Magic Basket
So, we arrive at his house and are seated at round tables that fill the living room and dining area. His wife baked cookies and we each have a baggie of them waiting for us. She gives us a piece of paper and tells us to write names of loved ones or spirit guides at the top, ask a question in the middle and write our name at the bottom. Then she went around the room and gathered them up for the reader, Hoyt (I really should give him a name at this point!)
Hoyt then tells us in more detail about the process. He lifts up a basket that’s about 12 inches in diameter and maybe 3 inches deep. There’s a tight-fitted lid that is with it. At this point, it’s empty and he shows us the pens, markers, colored pencils and oil pastels that he puts inside the basket. He hands one of the ladies in our group (definitely not a plant, like the frauds of the past) and asks her to open the new package of blank white 3x5 cards. She places some of them in the basket, he puts some pens and markers on top, she puts in more papers, he adds oil pastels and more colored pencils, stirs it all up in layers and then puts the lid on and sets it aside on the table where we can all see it.
It gets better….he takes masking tape and tapes over his eyes and then puts on a black blindfold. He gathers our papers in his hand and begins to tell us that he’ll call out names of spirits or guides and if we recognize them to speak up. He’ll give us whatever message they want to pass on to us and let us know who is going to draw their portrait on a piece of paper that’s inside the enclosed basket. All in all it seemed much like the services at the church where messages are given and names of loved ones are mentioned out of thin air BUT there was a magic basket at this event and I kept my eye on it!!!
The basket never moved but you COULD hear the clinking of the pens and pencils coming from it! That was pretty wild!
My reading
He had read for a few people around the room, setting down a paper each time before going to the next and giving messages that were relevant, specific and meaningful. Then he called out the name Myrtle.
I had written on my piece of paper the names of my grandparents, Myrtle, Doris, Marvin and Kenny as well as Forrest Henry, a man who was like a grandfather to me as a young girl because he had horses and dogs….but that’s a story for another day. When Hoyt called out the name Myrtle another woman claimed it and I thought, “How many people have a grandmother named Myrtle?!” I didn’t feel like it was for her so I waited for him to call out my other grandparents and before long he had said then name of Doris and Marvin so I spoke up.
He said that these people were with me. Then he said that Osiris was with me. Well, some of the others had Isis with them or Hathor and I got Osiris. I was a little surprised but thought it was lovely. He said that Osiris was going to put his picture on a paper in the basket for me. Then he said that King David was with me. I thought that was a little strange until he asked if I played the harp! He said, “King David says you play the harp for people but he says that you do it differently. King David says that you reach INTO the person to play for them” . Holy Moley! Yes, I do! My Soul Songs are that exactly! I hadn’t written ANYTHING on my paper about music or harp music so this was definitely a message I needed to hear!!
There were a few other messages for me about things that made sense and then he again told me that Osiris would draw his portrait on my card in the basket, “and I leave you with that” he said.
The Harry Potter moment
Once he had set down each paper he knew he had read everyone in the room and then began to remove the blindfold and tape from his eyes. As if the messages themselves weren’t powerful and meaningful and magical enough, we were all excited about what was going to come out of that basket!
We could NOT believe our eyes!
There were brightly colored portraits on the cards and names were written on the backs in different colored markers! OUR names were on them somehow!
So this is the portrait that Osiris drew of himself for me. It was incredible and I was a little confused as I never thought about him as a little boy. I felt that it was significant but wasn’t quite sure just yet.
We all compared our pictures and names and I think everyone’s eyes were totally bugging out and we were all so excited about what we had experienced.
I asked Hoyt how he did what he did and how long it took to learn to do it. He said that he had a teacher teach him and that it took 17 1/2 years for anything to appear on the papers in the basket! That was back in about 1992 and since then, the images have gotten much more defined.
Secret Names Revealed
These are the names that appeared on the back of my card. My name and the names of Gods of Egypt that I adore.
Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom and Hermeticism
Amun, the hidden god who’s priestesses were called “God’s Wife” and the “Hand of the God” (love that one!)
Osiris, the god of abundance and who ancient Pharaohs identified with when they died
King David, ruler of ancient Israel who played the harp to please God and loved Bathsheba
Carolos Salzedo I had to look up and let me tell you how surprised I was!!! He was a French pianist and harpist who composed beautiful music specifically for the harp. He’s called the foremost composer of the harp in the 20th century and designed a beautiful harp for Lyons and Healy named after him! He passed away in 1961 and there’s a book about him, interestingly enough entitled, “Pentacle, The Story of Carlos Salzedo and the Harp “.
Father Marazzoli was another name I had to look up. He was an Italian musician of the harp who lived in Italy as a priest. He attended mass at the Sistine Chapel the day there was a “tragic accident” and died from injuries in that accident the following day. This was in 1662 and his gilded harp can be seen at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome. Guess I need to go there!!!
The Mystery of the Boy Osiris
Sitting with Normandi after the event in her living room we compared our cards and talked about the messages and names. One of the names on her card was of the priest Khamwaest, an ancient Egyptian priest and magician. I again mentioned my confusion at the portrayal of Osiris as a young boy and then her eyes got big! She said, “Si-osire!”
Oh! I knew that name! That’s the name of the son of Khamwaest whose tomb we went into at the Valley of the Queens, where the story along the walls is so very touching and emotional! It shows the young boy going through each of the gates in the underworld, guided by his father, Khamwaest, until he reached the final gate. His father, powerful magician that he is, cannot pass through this gate and then again re-enter life above. He leaves his son in the presence of the goddess and holds his hands up in a final wave goodbye.
What all of this MEANS!!
So, what do we DO with this crazy pants fun Harry Potter story of mine?! Let me tell you!
It solidified and validated my path and purpose in life. I already knew of the healing power of my music and the way that the Soul Songs reach INTO a person. I was blown away by the presence of King David and the other talented harpist/composers on my card. Again, I didn’t NEED these things to know I was on the right path but it sure helped me feel DIVINELY GUIDED even more!
I don’t know how all of this works and that’s the magic of it all! All I know to do is to keep offering these and helping others find their path with more clarity and confidence because I’ve been there and know some of the keys to finding that.
May you experience all the magic life has to offer!
Sending you so much love!
Auset