AR13 - ANGEL TALK: THE BOARD GAME By Len Kasten

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	ANGEL TALK: THE BOARD GAME by Len Kasten
Index of Issue 13

The New Age movement has brought a multitude of totally new ideas into the modern spiritual-philosophical milieu, many of which have never before been seriously considered. Some of them are merely innovative, others could be considered startling, and some are actually revolutionary. In the last category, for example, is the idea of the god within.

Not only is this concept revolutionary, it is basically threatening to most forms of organized religion. If everyone truly believed that all the spiritual comfort and inspiration needed in life could be obtained simply by going within, membership in churches all over the world might soon diminish drastically. Another New Age concept may be even more iconoclastic. It is the idea that life should be joyful. But with the New Age winds of change, a totally new perspective blew in: life can be enjoyed if you are spiritually attuned, and if you are focused on expansion of consciousness. From this perspective, prosperity is okay if that's what you want. It doesn't necessarily imply a deep immersion in materiality. Sensuality and bodily pleasures are no longer considered sinful or decadent. In fact, a healthy concern for the body, and the ability to derive enjoyment from it, are now viewed as indicative of respect for the wonderful mechanism that it is. And if you don't have a sense of humor and are not having fun, then you probably don't have the right spiritual orientation, because joy and enjoyment are the fruits of the spirit. In this age of Apocalyptic portents of gloom and doom, it's a refreshing and hope-filled message.

Anyone who has moved in New Age circles since the '80s has probably heard these phrases many times. And, in fact, New Age retreats dedicated to these ideals have emerged all over the world. The Esalen Institute at Big Sur, California, is probably the most famous. For the most part, these novel ideas have been propagated by teachers, psychics, channelers, gurus and alternative health practitioners, with no discernible authoritative single source anywhere in evidence. They have simply drifted in to the collective New Age psyche until now.

If we are to accept the information given to the authors of a new book and board game, it is now official. These concepts have been endorsed by the angelic hosts. In fact, as now seems possible, perhaps the New Age teachers who have been voicing these ideas, have been subconsciously, if not consciously, inspired by the angelic presence. The book is The Angels Talk by Kay Sturgis, Larry Sturgis, Deborah Taylor and Thomas Keller. The basic message is in the subtitle: How to Find Heaven on Earth. It has been packaged with a divination tool, or talking board, and recently published by Penguin Books. The authors developed the board game, which is very similar to the famous Ouija Board made by Parker Brothers, as a means of direct communication with the angels, and then wrote the companion book based on their suggestion and direction.

Atlantis Rising met with two of the authors, Kay and Larry Sturgis, at their home in Virginia Beach. Kay Sturgis is an astrologer with a nationwide clientele, and her husband Larry is a graphic and technical designer, certified in neuro-linguistic programming. Also in attendance was writer Deborah Taylor. The fourth author, Thomas Keller, an ordained minister, was not available. Taylor and Keller are the co-authors of the book Angels: The Lifting of the Veil, published in 1992.

As with many other major breakthroughs, this one started with a dream. Kelly Willis is Kay Sturgis's daughter from a previous marriage, now living with her father in Florida. In September of 1994, at the age of 12, she was at death's door, in the terminal stage of a congenital liver disease. She had been on a liver transplant list for eight months, but there was almost no chance of finding a donor in time. As she grew weaker, her mother prayed for guidance and assistance from God. Kelly called her from Florida one night and told her that she wished she could talk to the angels because she felt that she was going to die. She suggested that her mother appeal to the angels for help to prepare her for death.

Kay Sturgis at that point in her life had no particular belief in the existence of angels, but neither did she disbelieve, and she had read the book by Taylor and Keller (see above). Before she went to sleep that night she prayed that if there were angels, and they could hear her, to please help her daughter get well. The next morning, she had what she describes as a waking dream in which she saw a family playing a board game while angels stood behind them, and the players seemed to be communicating with the angels through the game. When she became completely awake, she intuitively knew what the dream image was trying to tell her. She had to design a game to communicate with the angels, so that they could tell her how to help Kelly. She brought the problem to her husband, who readily agreed to the project. But where to begin? Obviously, it would be a good idea to enlist the aid of someone who knew something about angels. So, they called Deborah Taylor.

At that time in her life, Deborah Taylor had, after many years of struggle, finally reached the point where she was at peace with herself. She had come to understand that a life of simplicity, which others might consider economically deprived, was spiritually satisfying, and she was happy for the first time in a long time. Living by herself in a tiny trailer in the woods near Virginia Beach with no money and no car, she communed with nature and to her surprise found herself enjoying it immensely. For this reason, she was initially reluctant to get involved with the angel project proposed by Sturgis. But she gradually came to realize that this was important, and in late September 1994 she agreed to participate, and brought Thomas Keller into the group.

They began to meet at the Sturgis house to decide on the design of the game. As most who have ever worked for a corporation will attest, research by committee is a difficult proposition. It is usually the lone inventor who conceives the germinal idea. And so it was in this case. Initially there were clashes as each of the four became attached to a different idea. Later they came to realize that this should have been expected, since each came with a unique contribution. It soon became obvious that Larry Sturgis was the lone inventor in the group, and the others recognized this. For Larry, the experience pushed him to a new level of spiritual maturity.

For most of his adult life, he had studied spiritual subjects and sought communications with entities from other realms. He had studied Castenada, Seth and Lazarus. Furthermore, he was a graphic artist, and very competent with computers and high technology. And since he had always believed in angels, he was very enthused about the prospect of actually contacting them. Clearly, he was perfect for this undertaking al-most as though he had been secretly prepared for it all his life, he believes. And yet, he had never really been assertive or pushed his ideas forward. Now, he found that he had to demonstrate a passionate commitment to his vision, or the others would overwhelm him. And so he rose to the occasion.

He convinced the others that the Ouija Board concept was a beginning point, but somehow they would have to avoid all the negativity associated with using the Ouija. As they researched it, they found out that the talking board idea was very ancient. Pythagoras had used it with his students, and the Romans used it for divination. The Parker Brothers version has been probably the single best-selling board game in the world for over seventy-five years. Anyone who has used it knows that it works, but it always seems to attract mischievous and even diabolical entities, who fabricate answers and frequently use foul language. The fact that it's manufactured in Salem, Massachusetts, may have something to do with this. Although the authors didn't know it, there had been a very positive talking board precedent in the '50s, when George Hunt Williamson and Albert Bailey used the idea for communicating with extraterrestrials in flying saucers. Williamson's out-of-print book on the subject, Other Voices, gives the verbatim conversations, which were very elevated and informative, and Williamson, a highly educated anthropologist, was entirely convinced of their authenticity.

By October, a working prototype was ready. The authors recall the first time they sat down to play. It was a memorable and emotional occasion. They said a fervent prayer, and Larry and Kay sat opposite each other and placed their hands on the planchette. It immediately began to move and spelled out, We are with you, and we love you.

It was reminiscent of the first phone conversation of Alexander Graham Bell or the first wireless transmission by Marconi. In the weeks that followed, as the four played regularly, they developed a closeness with the angels that none of them had believed possible. They describe it as a light-hearted and loving exchange, with the angels displaying an impish sense of humor that was always characteristic of their dialogue, frequently punctuated by joyous exclamations like Yippee! The angels challenged them to ask any questions they could think of, and they did, and the answers were always informative and frequently surprising.

Very quickly, the angels cleared up the question of the quality of the communication through a divination board. It was necessary, they said, to set your intention, which is your free will choice of what you expect to gain from the experience. The angels will always honor that choice, since they never attempt to interfere with free-will. The authors informed us that the initial intention of the game, set by them jointly, was that it be used only for angelic communication, and that intention, they claim, has been carried through the manufacturing process, so that no copy of the game can be used for any other purpose. (This brings up the question of what initial intention might have been set by the designers of the Ouija Board.)

One of the first questions was about Kelly. Would she live or die? The angels promised that she would receive a liver transplant before April 1995, and that she would be fine after that. Kelly was jubilant, but Kay had her doubts because she knew that they were all too attached to a positive answer, and the angels had warned them that such a strong attachment to an answer could skew the results.

In February Kelly took a turn for the worse and was kept in an oxygen tent twenty-four hours a day. Her uncle, Rick, Kay's 23-year-old son, thought he would never see her again, so one night in March he went to visit her in the hospital. Around midnight that night, Larry and Kay Sturgis were awakened by someone pounding on their bedroom window. They ran to the front door. It was Rick. He yelled, The doctors have a liver for Kelly! She and her dad are on their way to the airport. On the fourteen-hour drive to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where the operation was scheduled, Kay thought she observed a large silvery cloud moving with them.

The operation was successful, and now, two and a half years later, Kelly is indeed fine. There was no rejection of the new liver. It had all happened exactly as predicted by the angels. The angels later told the authors that the entire drama had been planned before Kelly's birth! She had volunteered to be born with the disease so that all the other events would follow like falling dominoes and would lead to the development of the game which was the goal. This is a fascinating insight into the techniques used by the angelic kingdom to positively influence life on earth, using no manipulation or persuasion, but relying entirely on volunteerism, their knowledge of human nature, and likely choices.

As the authors have continued to play the game, they've developed a knack for communicating with the angels, and can feel the angelic energy moving through their bodies and guiding their arms on the board. They learned to recognize different entities and groups within the angelic kingdom. Occasionally Michael would come through. His energy, they say, is strong and authoritative, and his messages are much more profound than the average communication. Then there is a group who refer to themselves as the Angelic Scholars, who can offer information and wisdom on virtually any subject, and who can't seem to resist peppering their responses with jokes and puns. Since the goal was to make angelic communication possible for everyone, Deborah Taylor went to New York to look for a literary agent. At about the same time, the angels requested a companion book to go with the game and provided the outline. It turned out that the New York literary agent also contributed to the project, eventually placing it with Penguin Studio Books.

The angelic version of Heaven on Earth focuSes on individual perception. It is not about a social revolution which will bring about a cornucopia of material abundance. It is about seeing the world through new eyes, and re-entering your personal Garden of Eden where you will find an easy communication with the angels, as it once was. To accomplish this, it is necessary to purify the emotional body, because all perceptions are filtered through this matrix, and depending upon its character, we experience life as either painful or pleasurable. The angels call this process The Initiation into Self.

It begins with setting an intention, or an application of the Will. The angels can help with this process through the game, by identifying your personal attribute. Your attribute is the key to the kingdom, and it is different for everyone. The list is long but it includes are such qualities as Balance, Grace, Wholeness, Clarity, Truth, Adventure and many more. Taken all together, the attributes of humanity are the various earthly counterparts of The One Who Created Us All. The attribute conferred at birth is the soul's mission for this life. Your attribute represents your greatest need in finding the self, and by taking that road, you can rediscover the essence of your soul. Once glimpsed, all the shadows of the self are exposed. These shadows are all the negative patternings that we have woven into the emotional body over many lifetimes and have become attached to. Once they are exposed, they are seen as meaningless and can easily be let go.

The angelic hosts themselves are differentiated by attribute. Actually, they are in essence attributes of the One. So by applying your attribute, you automatically tie into that angelic group, and learn to personify that attribute on earth. According to the book, when you do this, an alchemical reaction takes place that brings your shadows into the light, and in the process, purifies your emotional body.

In the book you will also find a fascinating account, by the angels themselves, of how Paradise was lost and how it may be restored. Two chapters are devoted to the story of the Garden of Eden, the Luciferian Rebellion, the descent into matter, and the ascension process. And then there are the questions and answers. The authors were invited to ask anything, and out of the hundreds of questions have selected seventy-three. We learn here, for example, that angels do not have wings; that they never have problems only opportunities; that they do take vacations; and that the angelic kingdom is expanding. They also confirmed that we each have a Guardian Angel whose job it is to guide, connect, and protect.

One of the more intriguing angelic explanations claims that some humans are infused with angelic DNA. Many such babies were born after the first atomic bomb explosion in order to counteract the potential for destruction and to raise the consciousness of the planet. These became the flower children of the '60s. Dancing and singing in the public streets and parks, they sort of reenacted life in the Garden of Eden and demonstrated how, through love, it could be found again. It is altogether fitting, therefore, that having been condemned to a life of toil and earthbound care when we were banished, we can begin the return to the Garden of Eden by playing a game.