The Day the World Changed

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I received a frantic call from a colleague. What happened that day changed my life in more ways than one. By this time, I had been in practice for only a year. Even though my healing arts practice was still in its infancy I realized that I needed to branch out and start advertising to a larger market. Having a web site was all the rage at the time. As much as technology overwhelmed me, I realized that to be relevant in the new millennium I had to get with the program. That meant creating a web site. To make that a reality, my webmaster said I needed professional head shots.

I had been looking forward to this day for several weeks. I had never had professional shots done before. As I carefully prepared my makeup and assembled my wardrobe for the photo shoot, I was quite chipper, humming away to myself, dreaming of the future. I was in my bliss. I was living my dream. Every day was a bright new adventure running my healing practice, seeing clients, taking courses and meeting so many wonderful people. I was being of service. I had found my calling. For the first time in my life, I was at peace with myself and my world.

Then the phone rang.

The fact that I even heard the phone over the whirling racket my hair dryer was making was a surprise. That old dryer was like having a jet engine blowing in your ear. Yet, for some strange reason the phone ringing downstairs pierced through the house like a fire alarm bell. Rattled, I ran downstairs and picked up the phone. My colleague was on the line, sobbing.

“Oh, Atherton”, she said, “the world is coming to an end. Turn on the TV” and she hung up.

Stunned and confused I stood there looking down at the phone in my hand trying to take it all in. My first thought was omg somebody finally pushed the big red button. I shivered. With trepidation I went into the family room and turned on the TV. I slowly melted down onto the floor horrified at the images playing across the screen. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the second twin tower rumble down into a cloud of grey smoke.

All sense of time and space instantly disappeared. I can’t tell you how long I sat there watching the news. I can’t tell you how I finished getting ready for my appointment. I don’t remember driving downtown to the photography studio. What I can tell you is what happened next was surreal. I had never experienced anything like it before and haven’t since.

As I stood at one of the busiest intersections in our city core, waiting for the lights I suddenly felt the need to feel the warmth of the sun on my face. The brutality of all those lives lost as the towers crumbled into a mass of steel and concrete left me feeling numb. I needed reassurance. I needed to feel the sun on my face. I needed to feel present in the here and now. As I looked upwards at a cloudless sky what I saw next caught me off guard. My first thought was I was imaging things but as I leaned into what I was seeing. It did it again. The sky shimmered like a bowl of jelly being jiggled.

Mesmerized, I watched as a luminescent purple haze rolled in over the city core like waves in the ocean. I laughed. For the first time in my life, I saw Mother Earths aura! It was magical.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious I quickly glanced at the person standing beside me. Did she see this? Was anybody else seeing this, I wondered? I looked around the intersection but no one else was looking up. Then it occurred to me that despite all the traffic moving in the street I could hear nothing. Everything was silent. I couldn’t hear the engines of any of the vehicles even though they were clearly moving. It was like being in a movie with the sound turned off.

I was in the twilight zone. Shouldn’t I be upset? Confused? Disorientated? Instead, I felt oddly comforted. I closed my eyes and felt the energy. I felt love, safety, trust. What a strange thing to feel when there were people dying in New York, I thought to myself. How could this be? This one event in New York was changing everything we knew about our world at that moment.

The light changed. The movement of people around me snapped me out of my surreal experience. Quickly I sought to regain my bearings as I crossed the street. Once I reached the other side my hearing returned, and I raced to get to my appointment on time.

After I arrived at the photographers the only thing I remember was sitting on a stool as I sat looking out the window while the photographer completed her set up. As I waited, I could continue to see the soft, shimmering, purple haze of energy descending down onto the street like a fog. It was hypnotic. Before I knew it the shoot was over and I found myself back at home.

That evening I sat for a long time in meditation. I allowed myself to be present with the energy I had seen that day. On the one hand I could feel how all of humanity was crying out in one voice. Yet on another level I felt a deep sense of peace.

Puzzled, I called in my guides to ask for clarity. I soon found myself surrounded in their loving embrace. They said, be at peace, all is well. They helped me to realize that the purple energy I was seeing was universal love being sent down into the planet. It was like a spiritual hug in a time of extreme grief. The Universe was holding us in a hug while we, the universal collective, sobbed in pain at the day’s events.

It was at that moment I became aware of how we can feel different levels of energy. Our own, loved ones, our family, our community, country, the world and Mother Earth. They each have a level of awareness, a feeling. Everything is energy. We are energy. All energy is connected to each of those layers. We can feel and experience energies at different levels of planetary consciousness.

It is helpful to remember that sometimes when we are feeling something it might be bigger than ourselves. We may be feeling a different level of consciousness. When we lose sight of that it can make us feel discombobulated. It reminded me of just how much we are all connected. We are all one. We may all be drops of water, but we are all drops of water in the ocean of humanity.

The next time you are feeling overwhelmed or confused ask yourself, at what level am I feeling. Am I feeling the self (the drop of water) or am I feeling something at different level of consciousness (the ocean). Learning how to discriminate between the two will help you to hone your intuitive abilities and feel more in control of your environment.

Atherton Drenth is the author of Intuitive Dance. Building, Protecting & Clearing Your Energy (Llewellyn Worldwide), Following Body Wisdom and the Art of Intuitive Journaling. Atherton is a Clairvoyant, Medical Intuitive and Holistic Energy Practitioner facilitating transformational healing for her clients. She has been extensively trained and certified as a Medical Intuitive and Holistic Energy Practitioner. She has been in private practice since 2000. She is also a compassionate teacher committed to helping others develop their full intuitive potential through yearly workshops. She has a private practice in Ottawa, Ontario.