“Chris… there are no birds in here.” Revelations in Chapel Street, Melbourne

In 2014, I was driving through Chapel Street with a friend of mine. He loved it. The clubs, the bars, the fashion scene. It was his kind of place.

While cruising down the strip one day, I looked out the window and spotted a little shop called Revelations Bookstore. There were crystals in the front window. It looked interesting. But I forgot about it almost immediately.

Years later after I’d woken up, I found myself walking down Chapel Street again. This time, I decided to go in.

The shop wasn’t big. There was a lady behind the counter. I walked up and said hi. She greeted me warmly.

Her name was Peggy. She was in her 80s.

I told her she had some fascinating books for sale. There were books on aliens, ghosts, spirits, the occult, the tarot, you name it, she had it. I started going in every couple of weeks to chew her ear off. And I noticed something: she didn’t seem to mind having me around. I’d stay for two or three hours at a time, and it would feel like 15 minutes. That same feeling I’m having now, writing this blog. When you’re in the flow, time changes shape.

I purchased various books on all sorts of topics, one of the interesting ones wasn't a spiritual title at all, it was a book called Your Dog Is Your Mirror by Kevin Behan. Another was a title I don't remember but it was a book on Sathya Sai Baba, more on that one later.

One day, I went in and told her I had something strange going on.

I said, “I keep asking for things... and getting them. What’s going on?”

She looked at me and said,

“There’s a high being granting you wishes.”

I asked, “Why?”

She replied,

“I don’t know.”

I said, “Okay.”

Another time, I walked in and Peggy was out the back. I hadn’t been back there before, so I joined her.

The back room was full of amazing things, dusty, old, powerful-feeling. I noticed something strange under a blanket. I pulled it back, and there it was: a weird-looking machine.

I asked Peggy what it was

She told me it was a chakra healing machine from the 1980s, made in Switzerland. It looked every bit from the 80s, dusty, clunky, mysterious. I asked if it still worked. She said yes.

I asked if I could have a session. She said yes, come back in two weeks.

So I did.

When I returned, she had the machine set up in the back room. It was incredible. It had these massive colour-coded crystals for the chakras. I lay down on the bed, and she positioned the crystals above me, aligned with each chakra. Then she said she’d be back in an hour.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I got distracted by this deafening sound. Loud birds.

It totally ruined the session or so I thought. I lay there pissed off until Peggy came back.

She asked how I was.

I said, “Fucking pissed off.”

She asked, “Why?”

I said, “The birds. They were so loud.”

She looked at me and said,

Chris... there are no birds in here. This is a concrete room.”

Then she smiled.

“You’re clairaudient.”

I blinked.

“Oh.”

She nodded.

“Yes. You have a gift.”

Well... fair enough, I thought.

The mystery deepens.

Did the machine bring it out of me? I’m not sure.

But I still hear birds from time to time.

And I love when it happens.