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Spirited Community
More articles on this topic: SpiritismHarmony Grove residents believe they serve as a bridge to help others accept the paranormal as reality
The Press Enterprise, Jan. 12, 2003
http://www.pe.com/
By SANDY STOKES, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE
ESCONDIDO – At the end of a narrow country lane, Harmony Grove looks like a storybook village, complete with a steepled white church and an eatery serving up homemade pie.
But in the cluster of cottages inhabited by psychics and mediums, crystal balls and tarot cards are used more than telephones to deliver messages.
At Harmony Grove, where Joe Gustin has lived for 13 years, nobody bats an eye when he talks about his recent visits from Princess Diana and Mother Theresa, both of whom died in 1997.
When Diana manifests during a seance, Gustin says, “the fragrance of Joy (the perfume) fills the room.”
In the world outside, some people might label him a crackpot.
But at Harmony Grove, where people accept the paranormal as reality, Gustin not only fits in — he is a respected mentor.
Spiritualism
Gustin, 67, is an ordained Spiritualist minister. At the core of Spiritualism is daily communication with an infinite intelligence religious adherents call spirit.
Spirit is credited as the source of information divined in the psychic readings and seances that attract outsiders, who are welcome at Harmony Grove on weekends.
“None of my friends are really into the psychic thing,” said Greg Irwin, 17, a visitor from Mira Mesa. He was attending a Psychic Fair at the grove with his mother, Patricia Irwin. “When I come here, I get a reading, too,” he said.
Gina Franklin, 18, another visitor, said she enjoys tranquility at Harmony Grove, where silence is broken only by birdsong and the rustling of ancient oaks. “I’m psychic,” she said. “But I’m not fully developed yet. It’s nice to come here and get tips from people.”
There are hundreds of Spiritualist churches throughout the United States. Some are Christian-oriented, others are not. About half are affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches. Some, like Harmony Grove’s, are independent.
Spiritualists believe people’s bodies are inhabited by spirits who continue to learn and evolve after death and that mediums are people with the ability to communicate with the spirits.
Eclectic arrangement
Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association was incorporated in 1896 as a camp for Spiritualist retreats. The grove became a community in the 1920s, when it was expanded from 3 to 13 acres, and lots were established for Spiritualists to lease and build homes on. The eclectic collection of little cottages looks as comfortable as an old shoe.
Association President Coy Johnston said about 30 households are in Harmony Grove. The cottages are privately owned, but the land they sit on is leased from the association, which has members who live throughout Southern California.
Elivia Melodey of Carlsbad, an ordained minister on the association board, said Harmony Grove is more accepting of metaphysical and New Age philosophies than some other Spiritualist churches.
Melodey, ordained initially as a Metaphysical Minister in 1985, is well known in New Age circles for the music she makes by rubbing the rims of her large crystal bowls. She has recently been admitted to the Spiritualist clergy, who take turns leading the weekend church services at the grove.
Spiritualism is a religion with a defined doctrine, Melodey said, but at Harmony Grove, “they’re pretty embracive.”
That’s because the grove pioneers established the camp as an enclave open to anyone with faith in a spirit realm, said association historian Betty Miller, 78.
From UFOs to Indians
There have been times when the group has been more accepting of off-beat philosophies than it is now, she said. For example, in the 1960s, Harmony Grove was the site of a large UFO convention two years in a row, Miller said.
UFOs aren’t in evidence these days, but many of the clairvoyants see spirits of American Indians on the grounds, Miller said. Thus, at Harmony Grove, American Indian religious beliefs are embraced and paintings of famous chiefs hang in the church.
The grove’s inhabitants claim a variety of psychic gifts. For example Miller is a psychic artist. “I’ve drawn pictures of people’s guides for years,” she said.
Some people see or hear spirits, she says. Others simply sense their presence and receive messages from them.
Spiritualist mediums, like April Cunningham, say the ability comes from God. Cunningham says she’s “God’s bridge” and generally limits her work to helping other psychics.
But many Harmony Grove members provide spiritual counseling to outsiders and several take in business giving readings or doing past-life regressions.
Psychic fairs
During the grove’s psychic fairs, held the first Saturday of each month, volunteer clairvoyants set up card tables on the grass to provide 15-minute sessions for people who donate $20 to the association.
Mary Anderson of Encinitas volunteered recently. She said she’d been on the receiving end of readings and, “I had people tell me they thought I was psychic,” she said. “I’ve always been very intuitive, but I wasn’t sure where it was coming from.”
A scientific-minded chiropractor, Anderson decided to investigate. She trained at the College of Spiritual Science in Lillydale, N.Y., and now is one of Harmony Grove’s Spiritualist ministers.
When she began giving readings, “people were starting to validate the things that were coming through,” she said.
The scientist in her can’t say whether she somehow connects with a client’s subconscious or whether outside spirits bring her messages.
“The only thing I can say is something is going on,” she said. “And having an education in science, I don’t believe I’m flaky.”
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