Welcome to my first blog! I'm so excited to begin! Today is a significant day for my first blog since it's my great-grandmother, Florence's birthday. She was a psychic medium, and I've learned that both her mother and her grandmother in Ireland (my great-great and great-great-great grandmothers) were psychic mediums as well! Her gift was passed to multiple family members, and so I honor her today to celebrate not only her birthday, but also the gift of intuition that is interwoven throughout our family.

      Florence was born in 1895 and nearly took the Titanic from Ireland to America in 1912 at the age of 17. She stood in line with her two sisters to undergo a physical examination before boarding the ship. The ship physician noticed her thumb was infected and denied her entry to the ship. He told her she had blood poisoning which needed to clear, and that her boarding pass could be used to take the sister ship of the Titanic in future weeks. Florence's sisters chose not to board the Titanic in order to remain together to voyage several weeks later to America. Her thumb was cured with the use of leeches which sucked the blood from the infected tissue. Her thumb remained blue in color all her life--a constant reminder to the reason our entire family exists today.

      To understand what it was like to be a psychic medium for my great-grandmother, we must understand Northern Ireland at the turn of the century. Death was a common occurrence. Decades earlier, the Great Famine occurred when one million Irish died of starvation due to the loss of the potato crop due to blight. As a child, my great-grandmother lived with the violence of the war between the Protestant and the Catholics. She recounted the macabre scenario of playing "King of the Hill" atop piles of human bones behind her church in town. The war between the religions made it unsafe to attend church regularly for fear of violence. I believe this helped to foster my great-grandmother's mediumship, as the rigidity of religious dogma did not impair her intuition.

      Irish culture is vibrant with tales of fairies, gnomes, and leprechauns--"wee people" as they were affectionately called. The Irish openly embraced the hidden world of nature spirits. Great-Grandma recounted as a child she played and communicated with nature spirits and was told by spirit that she had "the gift of sight," and that this gift would be passed to her family members. One may think this is a colorful Irish tall tale, but her prophecy did come true! Throughout my great-grandmother's life, she was able to foresee events. She had an innate sense of knowing someone needed help, often running out of her farmhouse to the rescue of family members. She "knew" her granddaughter fell from the barn rafters and ran to her. She "knew" her grandson had a farm equipment injury and ran to him. Her husband died tragically and she saw his spirit often in the farmhouse.

     Her ability was kept within the confines of her family. It wasn't socially acceptable to talk of intuition and spirit communication in America during her lifetime. I can relate to how she felt. It is difficult to hide who you truly are. Having the ability to see and sense spirit is not something you can "undo" or pretend not to notice. For me, sensing spirit is a distinct sensation each time. I feel a warm, buzzing, static energy accompanied by thoughts and visions that are not my own. In my mind, I hear spirit's words, I see what they show me, and I feel the emotions they have for their loved one on Earth. It is my hope and prayer that I may continue to convey to others the power of our intuition. Each of us is intuitive and each of us can connect to spirit. It is all a matter of being open and aware.  Ultimately, our loved ones in spirit never leave us and are aware of our struggles and joys on Earth. They live in a parallel dimension that is accessible to us when we quiet our minds and open our awareness. I look forward to future discussions on all things spiritual. Happy birthday to my great-grandma in Heaven and to all of you, I wish you many blessings!

Love,

Tracy