The Sauna Part 167

The sunlight was streaming in through the huge windows which led onto the private terrace when we awoke the next morning. It was a warm day despite being early December and we decided to order breakfast and eat on the patio. The sunshine was too glorious to resist.

We nibbled on fresh fruit, cheese and freshly baked bread with real butter and it reminded me of the breakfasts I’d had in Germany when my ex-husband had been stationed there so many years ago. Jeff. The last thing on earth I’d wanted to be reminded of was Jeff. I shook my head as if to dispel the evil ghost from my past and Jon looked at me over the rim of his coffee cup.

“Babe?” he asked curiously.

“Nothing, love. It’s nothing” I said, convincing myself in the process.

Jon didn’t believe me, but he decided not to press me for the truth. He suspected that I hadn’t been able to shake the memories that Jeff had stirred up quite as easily as I pretended, but he was determined to help me try.

“So, after breakfast, should we try and find that psychic you’d seen last time?” he suggested.

“Yeah, I’d like that. If Victor isn’t here any longer, I’m sure we’ll find someone else who can guide us through a past life regression. That sense of déjà vu seems so strong at times and I would love to know more” I agreed.

“You know I had a dream last night and it was so vivid that I wondered if just maybe…” Jon said thoughtfully.

“Tell me, tell me!” I breathed excitedly.

“Well, I always felt a pull whenever I played in Ireland and last night I had this dream about being in Ireland and running a pub. It was a long time ago, though, in the dream; maybe in the Middle Ages, I think” he continued.

“Go on” I encouraged.

“I was running this pub and I think I was the owner. All I remember now was that I was older, probably in my fifties, and I was serving drafts to a crowd of people and it seemed like I knew them. We were exchanging insults and laughing, so it all seemed friendly. That’s all I remember really, that and the smell of the beer and wiping my hands on an apron…” he said wistfully, trying to recapture more of the dream.

“Maybe Victor can help shed some light on it or help you remember more” I suggested.

It was so frustrating when you could only remember snatches of a dream or a memory and you knew there was more. I had had similar experiences with really vivid dreams or an occasional fleeting vision, like a glimpse into the past, and it made me curious too. We finished our breakfast and hurried out the door, anxious to see if we could find Victor or someone who could help us remember our past lives.

We headed straight for The Center for the New Age and I knew instinctively when we arrived that Victor was there. I sensed it in my gut and even before I could inquire whether he was available, he appeared from behind the curtain that separated the private rooms from the main part of the store. He looked much older than I had remembered, but then it had been at least ten years since my visit there. He smiled amiably at me and my face brightened.

“Victor? Is that you?” I asked tentatively.

“I am Victor. Do I know you?” he responded as he extended his hand.

“I was here almost a decade ago and you had done a reading for me and a friend and helped us to recall some experiences from past lives” I explained excitedly as Jon moved to stand at my side.

“And today you come with your lover with whom you were blessed to find again after many lifetimes. How can I assist you today?” he said calmly. His eyesight might be failing, but his psychic abilities were right on the mark.

I heard Jon catch his breath beside me and my face lit up as Victor spoke those words, validating what I had known in my heart all along. I realized I had not entirely trusted my intuition until Victor confirmed it and I remembered his wise counsel from so many years ago. He had told me that I needed to pay more attention to my inner voice and trust what I was sensing rather than always questioning my spiritual awareness. I smiled at him and nodded my head in acknowledgement.

“Thank you again Victor. Your insight reassures me of what I should have known already. Jon and I came to seek your help in learning more about our pasts” I explained as I introduced the two men.

Victor shook Jon’s hand and closed his eyes briefly and smiled. I could see Jon was on pins and needles and it was the most subdued I think I had ever seen him. I imagined that it was likely as close as Jon came to being star struck, but I understood. I was in awe of Victor’s psychic abilities myself and somewhat ashamed that I had done little myself over the years to develop my gifts.

“Are you an artist in this incarnation?” Victor asked softly.

“No, not me. Trish is the artist here” Jon said, slightly taken aback at Victor’s immediate response after shaking his hand.

“Jon, you are an artist! Your music!” I reminded him, shocked at his response.

“There are many forms of art, children, but talent often follows us” Victor said wisely.

Jon took a deep breath and nodded as he took my hand to steady himself. His blood was racing and he felt his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Victor unnerved him with his uncanny knowledge and he was unused to someone knowing so much about him so quickly, but he was anxious to learn more himself.

Victor smiled a half smile and beckoned us to follow him behind the curtain and he led us up a rickety staircase toward his private quarters. I could feel the slight tremor as Jon held my hand as we followed Victor down the dimly lit hall to his room. The air was thick and stale as I had remembered and it was very warm. There were no visible windows and I wondered how he was able to tolerate such an environment for any length of time. Perhaps Victor was less attuned to the physical world than we were.

“Sit, children” he said, motioning to us towards the cushions on the floor. “Will you have tea with me?” he asked and we nodded.

He poured us each a cup of tea from a ceramic pot that had been steeped with herbs and I inhaled the pungent aroma. It smelled of jasmine and lavender and tasted sweet despite the lack of sugar. Jon took a tentative sip too as Victor began to ask us more detailed questions regarding what questions we had and as we began to tell him he interrupted.

“Your beautiful girl who recently left you is here with us. She wants you to know she is well and while she misses you, she is at peace and that there is no further need to grieve her passing” he spoke quietly.

Tears streamed down my face as I thought of my dear, sweet cat that we had lost just before we left New Jersey. Victor had comforted me over a decade ago in my grief over losing another beloved cat, Wally, who I had been extremely attached to and who’s death I had difficulty accepting. Jon wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled at me as he kissed my hand.

“Tell her I will always love her and that I am glad she is at peace and has Wally there to comfort her” I replied and Victor nodded, closing his eyes briefly.

He joined us on the cushions and began by instructing us in the practice of guided meditation. I was already familiar with the method, but it was new for Jon and there could not be a better teacher than Victor. We closed our eyes and he took us into trance as we focused on the images of the sea, going deeper as each wave washed over us.

Soon I became aware of images that came to me unbidden and I allowed myself to absorb as much as I could by being passively receptive. I saw myself suddenly in a wooded glen, wearing a crown of flowers, and I felt someone’s hand in mine. I turned to look at whose hand I held and I saw the clear blue skies reflected in the eyes of the man beside me and I knew instantly that it was Jon. He looked different and yet the same, although his hair was much longer and was reddish brown in hue. He wore a circlet of silver upon his head and I noticed the heavy ring he wore on his right hand as it held mine. My hair was the color of honey and I wore it high on my head, with wispy tendrils falling about my face. I sensed there was a ceremony of sorts taking place and we were not alone in the forest and I tried to hear the words being spoken.

Jon began to see fuzzy images in his mind and struggled to focus his gaze enough to see where he was. He heard the sounds of laughter and music in the background and he began to feel dizzy and sweaty until suddenly his vision cleared and he saw he was holding a woman he did not immediately recognize, although he was sure he knew her. He knew he was drunk and he could taste the ale in his mouth as he struggled to catch his breath and they came to a halt. The woman in his vision proceeded to thank him for the dance in her lilting Scottish brogue and his hands caught in her flaming red mane as he pulled her head back to look at him. And then he knew. The full, pouting lips that he found himself aching to kiss were mine, but it was the mischievous look in my eyes that told him for certain that it was me.

When it was over, Victor guided us back to the present and we blinked in the brighter light of his room. Jon immediately reached for me and turned my face towards him and he smiled as I grinned back at him.

“It was you! I saw you in that pub I had dreamed about and we danced to a jig!” he exclaimed.

Jon was unaware of his own arousal, but I noticed the bulging erection that strained at the seam of his jeans and wondered if all we’d been doing was dancing in his vision. Victor sat quietly as we recounted the details of what we had learned and waited for us to finish our stories. Jon was elated and wanted to know more as he pummeled Victor with questions and asked if he could take us back to those memories again. Victor rose slowly and motioned for us to follow as he smiled gently and shook his head.

“My children, you each have the capacity within you to return and find the answers you seek. I merely created the opportunity. Trust yourselves to find your own path” he said as he guided us towards the door.