I first became aware of the sparkies over the ten years when I worked full-time as a psychic and had the opportunity to exercise my intuitive "muscles" on a daily basis. I had been developing my senses of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and empathy or "clear sensing." I became used to the rhythms of psychic work, going into a light meditative state, opening up my heart and my third eye, and projecting my focus into the spiritual realms. I often received downloads of information as I was giving a reading to someone. At other times, pictures of the person's life would unfold like holographic, three-dimensional images in my mind's eye.

But through it all, I had a firm rule. No apparitions were allowed to appear to me. I didn't want my client's dead Aunt Bertha to materialize next to us during session. The same was true for seeing auras. What good would it do for me to suddenly see a blue or a pink energy field surrounding someone? I resolved to stick to what was pertinent to my immediate counseling work and remain focused on gathering information that would be helpful to my clients in their personal and professional lives (since people almost always came to see me to talk about those practical issues.) Other seers could get immersed in hallucinogenic visions and light shows. For me, that "special effects" stuff was just distraction from the work.

But over the years I started to see sparkies from time to time. These were tiny pinpoints of light that seemed to be spiritual in origin. They would often appear after a reading when my client had gone home, while I was still sitting within the sacred, fourth dimensional space, or the "readings zone," as I called it. Since I always invoked God/Goddess, the angels and loving spiritual archetypes, I figured that the sparkies were just a manifestation of this high-energy charge.

For a long time, I didn't tell anyone about them. Then many other spiritual seekers (who didn't know each other) started spontaneously telling me about seeing them. And that's when I came out of the closet.

Characteristics of the Sparkies

So far, the consensus among people who have shared sparkie stories with me is:

1. They appear to be divine energy, whether raw Holy Spirit or actual spirits/angels, we don't know. They carry a vibration of joy, love, and laughter, often showing up to punctuate a witty observation or a warm-hearted moment.

2. People see them both with their eyes open (physically flashing in front of them) and closed (like someone briefly shining a tiny flashlight into your eyes.)

3. Sparkies of different colors seem to appear. Color range reported: deep blue sparkles, purple, white, whitish-silver, and gold.

4. Usually people see just one spark of light at a time, although some have reported a cascade of golden sparkles in the shape of a human form. (Perhaps this was a guide of some sort?)

5. Sparkies will pop up frequently when someone is going through a period of spiritual acceleration, doing lots of meditation, prayer, or healing work. When you're in a more "mortal" period, dealing heavily with third dimensional stuff (work, family, money), the sparkies don’t seem to show up as frequently.

6. They seem to have a sense of humor about them. I can't count the number of times that I've been having an inspired, spirit-filled conversation with someone, and one of us would see a sparkie appear to punctuate a phrase. It's like they jump in to say, “You're on the right track. Keep following this path of this idea or the trail of this energy!”

Shamanic Traditions and the Sparkies

There has been some anthropological research on the sparkies. Holger Kalweit, anthropologist and author of "Shamans, Healers and Medicine Men" talks about many North American, Indonesian, and Siberian shamans who report seeing blue or multi-colored sparks during sweat lodge ceremonies. Fool Crow, a Lakota medicine man, said that when a person attending a sweat lodge had skeptical or bad thoughts, orange lights would appear. But if everyone was in a higher, spiritual frame of mind, blue lights would appear. The blue lights were not only desired, they were expected. They were seen as a sign of successfull communication between worlds.

There could also be a magnetic explanation for this phenomenon. As Kalweit says in his book, "Changes in magnetic fields produce electric potentials, whose effect on the eye is often described as a bright blue light. These magnetic phosphenes arise when an alternating current of from 10 to 100 hertz flows through a person's head."

Medical Explanations for Light Flashes

The medical community has its own explanation for a person seeing flashes of light. Light flashes can be a sign of a potential physical illness or disorder. And often, when a person sees flashes of light, they just turn out to be "floaters," loose debris within a person's eye. But people with various seizure-related disorders can be prone to seeing lights of many kinds, too.

All I can say is, none of the dozens of people who have told me that they see sparkies has been diagnosed with any such medical disorder. And the feelings of joy and love that issue forth when a sparkie is around seem to be evidence of a more metaphysical visitation.

My Favorite Sparkie Experience

One of my favorite experiences with the sparkies happened some years ago. I was visiting my cousin, who was living with some friends of hers in Connecticut. I didn't know her housemates at all, and I didn't plan on sharing my psychic side with them. All I knew was that they were a married couple who had just had their fourth child, a little boy.

I met the family, who had a lot of loving, happy energy. I sat near their new baby for a few minutes. What a little cherub! I just sat there, beaming at him and enjoying his sweet spirit. All of a sudden, I saw a circle of silver-white sparkies dancing over his head, like a circular halo! All the while, the baby was laughing and grinning.

I didn't know whether I should share this observation with the baby's mom, since she could just write me off as a loony tune, and I was a guest in her house. I wanted to have a place to sleep that night! But just as I expressed this doubt to myself, the dancing white sparkies appeared again over the baby's head. Since I don't usually see manifestations like this in broad daylight, in the middle of a normal afternoon, it seemed like I should tell the kid's mom about it.

It turns out that she was deeply moved by my report. She shared some personal information. With three small children already to support, she and her husband had been shocked to find themselves pregnant with their fourth child. But they had put their faith in God and decided to have the child. He seemed a miracle baby in many ways, possessed of a sweet spirit, and for these reasons they decided to name him Christian.

Were the sparkies that I had seen Christian's spiritual guides or angels? They definitely played the role of divine messengers here, bringing affirmation and joy to a special mom who had sacrificed much to bring this fourth baby into the world. The sparkies seemed to be telling her that she was doing a great job, and that Christian was meant to be on this planet.

I invite readers to share their own sparkie stories with me. What color and shapes do you see?

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