Recently I was at a very busy museum cafeteria with my mother and my sister. There were many more people milling around than there were tables available, but we finally spied one and zipped over to claim it. We were there for a minute, waiting for the people leaving to gather their things, when this Asian woman pushed in and snagged one of the seats. This was fine since there were four seats and only three of us, and we didn't mind sharing. Then, however, she placed her large bag in the chair next to her! She then looked up at me with a challenge in her eyes, and I don't know what came over me, but I refused to back down. We locked eyes and just stared at each other in silence. Though I would normally just shrug something like this off, something in me held firm in this silent battle of wills. I must have won, because she suddenly moved her bag and made a gesture for us to sit. As we ate, she gave me the creeps! Her energy was so strange, and she kept staring at one or the other of us. At the end of the meal, she gave each of us her business card, at which time we learned she was a real estate agent. Here's the weirdest part: as soon as she walked away, all three of us dropped those cards like they were hot. I felt she was trying to get some sort of energetic edge on us by giving us her cards, and intuitively sensed I shouldn't keep it. What do you think? I've never met anyone with energy like hers - it felt sort of inhuman.
- Betsy
Astrea:
Our world gets smaller every day. Easy travel within our own neighborhoods and abroad has made it almost impossible to keep up with how we're supposed to behave in situations with new people, including the strangers we encounter in public places.
As every country has its own customs, it would take a lifetime to learn them all, especially when it comes to meals. If you look around any public place, you can count ten or fifteen different nationalities of people doing what they have to do in order to conduct the business of their day, and each has his own way of doing things.
In many Asian countries, it's customary for strangers to exchange business cards at meals. Even people without business cards have cards with their contact information that are given out to people they encounter, especially in situations like the one you describe.
Most people do that whether they're introduced or run into someone by accident. Sometimes this is done at the beginning of the meal, and since you were the new people at the table, good manners dictated that you should have presented her with YOUR cards as you sat down.
In some cultures, sharing a table would be considered extremely rude if you are not invited to do so, for eating is considered an intimate act. When she snagged the table, the lady put her things in the chair to prevent you from sitting down with her. When you did anyway, you probably offended her.
For example, in many Gypsy tribes, everyone has his own plate and eating utensils. The idea of eating from someone else's plate is considered horrible and unclean, as is the idea of sitting at a table where strangers are eating.
Of course, most people who feel that way would probably avoid eating out altogether, but perhaps this was an isolated incident for this woman, and she is accustomed to eating in places where others would know to avoid contact.
So although the woman's behavior was strange and offensive to you, she was acting according to her own culture's customs. By putting her bag on one of the available chairs, she was silently signaling you to stay away while she ate her meal. You ignored this and sat down anyway - that's why you got her dirty looks.
There was no reason for you to drop those business cards, aside from the fact that you were offended by her behavior. Perhaps she made you feel embarrassed. She was embarrassed too, because she didn't know what was expected of her any more than the three of you knew what she expected you to do.
She wasn't trying to gain some kind of energetic edge on you, but she DID think it was rude for you to sit down at the table where she was enjoying a private meal, just as you felt it was rude of her to try to prevent you from sitting down to eat yours.
*****
Susyn:
I'm sure most everyone can relate to the type of experience you describe and the uncomfortable feeling it left you with. However, it sounds to me like the negative energy you encountered with this woman was more a product of this battle of wills than any malicious or evil intent on her part.
Regardless of their culture or upbringing, there are people in the world who act in thoughtless or even audacious ways by sending out a strong burst of aggressive energy, and this naturally repels us.
For example, if you're sitting in traffic and someone honks their horn at you, whether it's warranted or not, your body reacts by tensing up and generating fear. Then your mind kicks in, and depending on your own personal history, you imagine all sorts of things in response to this energetic affront.
This woman set up a negative vibe by darting in to grab the table and then being stubborn about sharing it, so the energy being exchanged was tense and uneasy from the start. Further, you three represented a united front, but since she was alone, she may have felt outnumbered and uncomfortable.
It's no wonder you all dropped her business cards like hot potatoes when she left, for you certainly wouldn't do business with someone who came across as pushy, selfish or manipulative. However, those perceptions were based on her behavior that day - you don't really know much about her.
On a metaphysical level, perhaps you had a similar encounter or face-off with this woman in a past life. Maybe this took place in an ancient Chinese marketplace or during a war-time skirmish. In any case, this brief encounter could prove vital to raising your awareness in some way.
There's an easy way to determine if your instincts are tuning in to evil intentions during a brief encounter with someone you don't know: usually, this is a feeling that crops up without warning or reason.
So if you sense an unsettling energy coming from another person, especially when there's been no direct interaction, that's when you must trust your feelings, for these are people who could have plans to harm you.
Unsettling feelings that arise from another's behavior have more to do with our personal lessons and issues. In fact, often the people we engage in minor skirmishes with turn out to be spiritual messengers with important lessons to teach us about ourselves.
Remember that you are more spiritually evolved than she is, and that holding on to these feelings gives her power over you. You may want to write the incident down on paper then burn it as a way to clear this entire incident from your mind.
Then if you ever cross paths again, you can greet her with spiritual compassion and power, which will make you immune to any negative vibes she may send your way.
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!
I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.