A piece of this puzzle revealed itself to me during a casual conversation with a dear friend. Lois is a delightful, adventurous, spunky woman well into her eighties. She shared how she’d been opening up spiritually for sixty years, but was still unable to see or talk with her spirit guides—St. Germain, Jesus and Sai Baba—or with angels and nature spirits.

"So many times I’ll feel a warmth akin to a presence in the room with me. The connection gives me a vivid sense of serenity and comfort. But that’s as far as it goes."

Questioning her, I learned she sometimes feel an energy emanating from her plants, but is never able to see the plant’s aura or subtle body, or to have a dialogue with the spirit of the plant.

"Keith," she implored, "How do I do it? How can I connect with my guides and my plants in a more conscious and meaningful way?"

Her expression and words were so poignant. Then a faint glow began to radiate from the little houseplant she had on the breakfast table. As Lois continued to express her longing to interact more directly with nonphysical friends, the light at the center of the plant shown brighter and brighter.

I knew the light was the deva, the nature spirit, of this plant. Upon my recognition of its presence, the fairy deva shone so brilliantly it almost hurt my eyes. I breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, this dramatic light demonstration was a direct response to Lois’ prayers and desires. I speculated to myself, This is great. Here’s her answer. Thank you, Spirit! Pointing to the brilliant glow radiating from the heart of the plant, I exclaimed, "Well, there you go! There’s your answer."

Lois said nothing. She simply sat there with a puzzled look on her face, staring in the direction of my outstretched finger. "What answer? I don’t see anything unusual. I don’t understand what you’re pointing at!"

She didn’t see the light. She saw nothing! "What about that light there, Lois," I coached. "That deva, that fairy, that glow?"

She strained and squinted. She still didn’t see anything unusual.

I urged, "Do you sense anything? Do you feel a presence, a warmth, any unusual sensation at all?"

Discouraged, she sighed and responded, "No, nothing."

By now I was perplexed and becoming extremely frustrated. I asked my inner knowing, "How can I help her?"

The plant spirit spoke right up:

"Ask her: ‘If you saw me, would you tell anyone?’"

I took the deva’s cue. I softly inquired, "Lois, if you saw the glow of this deva right now . . . if you communicated with it in some way . . . would you tell anyone?"

"No, absolutely not!" she replied immediately, abruptly sitting up straight in her chair. "I’ve gotten in such trouble talking about things like that. You can lose friends that way."

Lois’ reply was so terse and fearful, I realized instantly why she never experienced spiritual visions, multisensory awareness or communications with other dimensions. The barrier was her own unconsciously held, internal, emotional belief system. She believed if she communicated with the nonphysical world and people found out, they would think she was a foolish old woman. Lois was afraid people would say she was crazy. This, in turn, would cause her an enormous degree of shame. Lois was in denial. Unconsciously, of course, as with all denial. She was actually refusing contact, blocking herself from opening to the connection she so desperately longed for in her life.

Now I understood. I thought to myself, Each of us is in charge of what kind of spiritual experiences we can and do have. By the receptivity level of our own unconscious, emotional beliefs, we determine how much we can open to the full array of all the possible dimensions and aspects of life. We are the keepers and creators of our own magic and miracles.

I shared my insight with Lois. She definitely saw how she psychologically hindered her own ability to have the spiritual experiences for which she so longed. I assisted Lois to feel, release and integrate her strong emotions about publicly expressing her natural spiritual abilities. After a short while, Lois was much lighter and a lot freer of the vibration generally called "fear. She felt very open to the possibility of developing her innate spiritual skills no matter who found out about them!

The last time I connected with Lois, she reported she’s seeing a distinct glow around certain flowers in her garden. She’s also feeling a definite, strong presence and a long-desired tranquility when speaking to her roses. Last week, a daffodil actually talked back!

And, she no longer keeps her magic to herself. She’s told two friends so far. And they don’t think she’s a crackpot. In fact, they’d like to learn themselves how to converse with plant spirits.