After work that day, I headed straight to my friend Wayne's healing center where we cohosted a free Reiki circle every Thursday night. Anyone was welcome who wanted to network in the spiritual community, learn about Reiki, and receive a short treatment.

I'd met Wayne in 2011 when we were training to become Reiki Masters. When I walked into class the first day, my eyes locked on a man in his mid-fifties who towered over everyone else at six feet, six inches tall. I was a little intimidated at first because I'm a petite woman at five feet tall. However, as soon as I introduced myself, it became instantly clear that Wayne was someone I could trust. I also knew that we would be good friends and teach Reiki together. He told me later that he'd had the same premonition that day. Even our Reiki Master said she had sensed that Wayne and I would teach together someday. I believe our meeting was meant to be.

Neither of us had known at the time that Wayne would eventually open a healing center. He had learned Reiki to help himself and his family. He hadn't aspired to do spiritual healing for a living. However, not long after our training, he offered free distance healings and greatly enjoyed the satisfaction he got from helping people.

After performing several hundred remote healings, Wayne worked on an older woman named Brigette while she was terminally ill. To his amazement, she came and spoke to him after her passing. He explained to me that the deceased would come talk to him on a balcony that would appear above his head. When Brigette had spoken to him, she was gazing down at him from the balcony. A tall man was standing beside her that Wayne didn't recognize. The man remained silent while Brigette exclaimed, "Wayne, Reiki works! It works! You have to start a center!"

Afterward, Wayne talked to Brigette's daughter and described the man he had seen standing beside her mom. She said that was her mother's husband, who had died a few years before.

Spiritus Reiki Center was born shortly thereafter in July 2014. In honor of Brigette, Wayne named the center Spiritus, using the Latin word for spirit. If he hadn't been goaded to open a center in this manner, it likely never would have happened. Wayne had a strong connection with Spirit; he rarely made major life decisions without spiritual confirmation.

I had learned to do the same. When I obtained my Reiki Master certification in 2013, I wasn't interested in abandoning my lucrative job as an administrative assistant to open a spiritual center and offer classes. I didn't even feel like hosting Reiki circles in my home. I didn't know what to do, so I waited for Spirit to guide me.

The following year, when Wayne asked if I'd like to cohost Reiki circles and teach with him, I happily agreed. That was the guidance I'd been waiting for.

Wayne rented an old office suite in a nondescript business complex and transformed a space that had no personality into an inviting healing center. Reiki circles were held in the largest room while the smaller one was reserved for Wayne's private sessions. Lush plants and a multitiered porcelain fountain greeted visitors in the welcome area. Paintings of angels and other inspirational artwork hung on the walls. A variety of crystals provided additional spiritual ambience in every room.

Mere weeks after the grand opening, the Reiki circles grew from a dozen attendees to thirty or more. We taught a few classes sporadically for the first year, and by January 2016, we'd settled into a routine of monthly workshops. The energy was powerful, and many of our students had experienced transformations.

The night after my contact with Alan Rickman, about forty people attended the Reiki circle. Wayne opened the event with some general announcements, and then I explained Reiki to the newcomers and gave the dates of our upcoming classes. After a short break, Wayne turned on a meditation CD, and the practitioners performed treatments on those who had come to receive Reiki.

Afterward, we performed a brief distance healing. Wayne instructed everyone to state silently or out loud the names of people, pets, and places they wished to send their healing. I didn't hesitate to put Alan Rickman's name into the circle.

When I checked my phone for messages after the event, I read a text from my friend Perri who was asking for help. She and her husband Van were exploring ways to save their marriage, and they wanted to try a spiritual approach with me. I texted her back and arranged for her and Van to come to my house for a session Monday evening.

* * * * *

Monday afternoon at work, I was busy at my computer when something unusual happened. Alan Rickman appeared in my mind's eye. He ran up to me, leaned down, and frantically waved his hands in my face.

His voice screamed in my mind, "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! It's an emergency!" Then he disappeared before he could elaborate.

I stared at the empty space where his head had been. "Well, that wasn't very helpful," I mumbled.

What was that all about? What was a deceased actor doing in my office, yelling in my face? I gazed in the same direction for several moments, hoping Alan would reappear and explain what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, nothing happened. I wondered if it had taken all his strength to manifest himself, and he couldn't maintain it for more than a few seconds. There was nothing I could do at that point, so I returned to work.

* * * * *

I went straight home that afternoon and prepared my meditation room for my visit with Perri and Van. I'd bought the cozy one-story house in 2013, two years after my father's death. After living with my parents all my life, that was the first time I'd bought property and lived alone.

The meditation room was one of two spare bedrooms straight down the hall from the front door. The other one served as my home office. When performing a Reiki session, I would set up my massage table in the center of the meditation room, in front of a black leather futon which sat under the window.

When my friends arrived, I directed them to make themselves comfortable on the futon while I sat on a metal folding chair facing them. We chatted for an hour, and they were both candid with their feelings. They admitted they had jumped into their marriage too fast and each one wanted different things out of life. To avoid a separation, they turned to me for whatever spiritual insight I could offer them. When I began, I described what I believed were their individual strengths and weaknesses and identified the lessons their souls were working on.

I had barely started when a wave of nausea hit me. At first, I wondered if the spiritual energy in the room was affecting me. I could feel the heaviness of it, but energy had never made me sick before. On the contrary, spiritual work usually energized me and gave me a sense of well-being.

After about thirty minutes, I couldn't sit still any longer and said I needed a break. I wanted to run to the bathroom at the back of the house to throw up. Unfortunately, I barely made it into the hallway when my stomach heaved. Instinctively I brought my hands to my mouth, but the force was so strong that I vomited into my hands and onto the floor.

The bathroom was too far away, so I dashed to the kitchen at the end of the hall, just to the side of the front door. I vomited violently into the sink, throwing up my dinner. When the retching finally stopped, I left the kitchen to find Perri and Van standing in the front yard. They had left the door open. Embarrassed, I stepped out after them and apologized profusely. I had never had a spiritual session like that before. Seeing me sick had made Perri queasy, so we agreed to talk another time and said goodbye.

I couldn't believe this had happened. Then I recalled Alan's abrupt visit to my office earlier that afternoon. He had warned me that something was wrong. He had known this was going to happen. But how? And, more to the point, why did he care? He did say we'd known each other in some past lives, so I wasn't a stranger to him. Perhaps this was simply his way of thanking me for the Reiki I'd given him. If so, that spoke volumes about his character.

I spent several minutes cleaning up the mess I had made when another wave of nausea hit me. This time, I bolted into the bathroom and made it to the toilet before vomiting.

A miserable night followed. I tried to sleep, but I was vomiting every hour. Earlier, I'd suspected food poisoning or a virus, but now it was clear I had a stomach flu. I stayed home from work for a few days and comforted myself with a lot of Reiki.

* * * * *

Alan's attempt to warn me about my illness left a lasting impression on me. I never would have expected help like that from a spirit—and a celebrity no less. Now I was very curious to learn more about him, so I did some research on the Internet once I recovered from the flu.

I discovered that the reports about Alan's death had been updated. Articles now specified the type of cancer he'd had. They confirmed what Alan had told me: pancreatic cancer. This gave me confidence that I had been speaking with Alan Rickman himself and he wasn't a figment of my imagination.

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TIP: Attaining physical verification of information provided by a spirit helps to validate the experience. If you make contact with a deceased person, ask them a question to which you don't know the answer. Then conduct research and try to corroborate their response through physical sources.

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As I read more about Alan's life, I was impressed with the depth of his career. I found it interesting that he had trained as a graphic designer in his youth. I had obtained my bachelor's in journalism, magazine design specifically. So we'd had similar training. When I was a child, I loved to write funny short stories about zany characters and drew cartoons of those characters. I'd even written a couple plays that were performed in class. I had a love of writing and the written word, although that never developed into a passion for the performing arts like it did for Alan.

I also found videos of recent interviews Alan had done. He talked mainly about the craft of acting and the projects he was promoting at the time, like a period drama that he'd directed titled A Little Chaos. My first impression was that he was charming and down-to-earth. What struck me most was his intelligence, confidence, and professionalism. Even when asked difficult questions, he spoke with ease and gave frank answers. He had a kind heart and cared about people.

Those interviews satisfied my curiosity about him. Afterward, I searched his name in Netflix to see if any of his films were available to stream. I was disappointed when the search returned no results.

* * * * *

Alan crossed my mind again a few weeks later when I was in the mood to watch a movie. It had now been over a month since his passing, and I hadn't forgotten him. I had thought originally that his work would give me something different to watch, so I was willing to look him up again.

I opened Netflix and typed Alan's name in the search box. To my delight, six titles came up this time: Bottle Shock, CBGB, Blow Dry, Lee Daniels' The Butler, Gambit, and Galaxy Quest. Other than the last one, I didn't know the premise of any of these stories or what roles Alan had played. Over the next several weeks, I watched each film while eating dinner. Each character was different, and Alan's performances were memorable.

Shortly thereafter, Netflix added three more films which I also enjoyed: A Promise, Love Actually, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I was pleased to finally see Alan's over-the-top portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham, one of his most popular roles. From what I had read on the Internet, Alan was best known for his villainous roles, but Netflix's offerings taught me that he was a versatile actor who could play any part.

Afterward, I was eager to see more of Alan's films. I was especially interested in the Harry Potter series. That was his most popular work and would likely be his most remembered for years to come. I made a mental note to look for the DVDs sometime.