My Life Across the Table (17 page)

Though I was only a few blocks from home, I couldn’t move. I was too terrified to take the chance that they might still be out there, waiting. I didn’t move, staying curled up, peeking out between my seats, at the pitch black street for at least thirty minutes after they were finally gone. I wanted to believe that they were far away, before I felt safe enough to go home.

It was almost daylight when I walked in my front door. I poured myself a cup of coffee and was sitting at the dining room table when my mother took the seat across from me. I got up, walked around the table, and without a word, I burst into tears as I put my arms around her, and wouldn’t let go. Though my mother knew that something terrible had happened to me that night, I could never bring myself to tell her, she didn’t need to carry the burden of that knowledge.

The experience of that evening taught me invaluable lessons, and changed my life, and my work in many ways. It took me a long time to get over the terror of seeing who I had described as the faces of the killers, suddenly come to life, only to realize they were hunting me. Though it took time, I needed to understand the energy that had been operating that night, to make our paths cross. I realized that because I had openly and willingly worked on the Hillside Strangler murders, I had opened the door for that energy to enter my life. I realized that I had done absolutely nothing to spiritually protect myself from their destructive, violent energy.

Learning how to protect myself spiritually was a learned process, and it didn’t happen overnight. When I first started giving readings professionally I didn’t understand, nor was I fully aware of how another person’s energy or issues could impact my life. I was open to everything, and without knowing that I needed to find what worked to keep me spiritually safe, I was highly vulnerable to the negative people and energies in my client’s lives.

Sometimes after finishing a reading, and without even realizing how it happened, I would have a health problem develop that I knew did not belong to me. After several doctors visits to resolve whatever the issue was, I began to understand that I was vulnerable to absorbing the health issues of my client’s and their loved ones, and I made a conscious effort to learn, and utilize different practices for protection.

I have found that each person, whether they are involved in spiritual work or not, has their own way of protecting themselves from negative energies brought into their lives, or the lives of those around them. There isn’t “one size fits all” when it comes to protecting yourself, and whether it is prayer, meditation, an amulet, or a variety of different practices, you have to find what feels right for you and your life, and that is what works.

Because of my close encounter with the Hillside Stranglers, I learned to spiritually protect my energy, and myself, always. From this experience I have also become more careful about the murder cases I agree to work on, more sensitive to the residual darkness, and acutely aware of the negative baggage they may leave behind.

I am forever grateful that God heard my pleas for help that night. Allowing me the opportunity to know what true evil looks like, and learn the value of protecting myself, and others.

As I began to write the stories for My Life Across the Table, I didn’t realize how deeply personal it would become to revisit the people, places, lessons and emotions that I have shared over the years.

Every one of the readings and experiences I have shared with you profoundly inspired me, touched me, and changed my life in ways I could never have known.

Though I have changed my client’s names to protect their privacy, every one of the people, experiences and stories in this book are true and hold a permanent place in my heart.

I hope you enjoy the stories I have chosen to share, and that in some small way they can convey the impact and importance of the work on a psychic’s life.

I live in gratitude everyday for having been entrusted and Blessed with an extraordinary gift and living this amazing life.

I hope you enjoyed My Life Across the Table, and I hope you will take a moment to visit my website at www .KarenPage.com. Please sign my guestbook and let me know you came by.

There are so many people I am grateful to have in my life, for a million different reasons, and most certainly, without them, My Life Across the Table would never have happened.

This is but a small portion of the people that have nurtured my soul throughout the years. I am grateful for their profound kindness, their amazing minds, their never ending talents, and their boundless love, friendship and support.

I can’t imagine a day of my life without you, so if ever for a moment you wonder…I Thank You from My Heart.
My wonderful friend, the amazing playwright, Yussef El Guindi, for the ongoing encouragement to write that has nourished my soul for the last twenty-five years…. Thank you from my heart
My incredibly talented friend, Mark Rivett, an amazing composer and producer, for his warmth, patience, laughter, lunch, and support in recording My Life Across the Table
…
Thank you from my heart.
My dearest friend, Warren Weideman, for your never ending kindness, love, pies, incredibly hard work, creativity and sheer genius, and for really “getting me” from the moment we met. Thank you from my heart.
My wonderful friend, Peter Giagni, for your friendship, perseverance, hard work and your most beautiful heart…Thank you from my heart.
My wonderful and loving friend, Chris Chekel, for your beautiful friendship, your enormous heart, and your amazing mind, and most of all for your deeply appreciated kindness…Thank you from my heart.
My wonderful and loving Mark Shamash, for your endless creativity, your beautiful and loving heart, your never ending kindness, your brilliant mind, the most interesting conversations, my beautiful book cover…and above it all, just for being you. Thank you from my heart.
My beautiful friend, Tracy Balsz, for your generous nature, your deeply appreciated hard work, your loving support and creativity, and the warmth of your beautiful spirit…Thank you from my heart.
I would also like to thank the tens of thousands of people that have been
Across the Table
from me…Thank you from my heart.

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Karen Page
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