by Laura Osborne

When Anthony the Medium walked into the Maisonneuve office on a Tuesday afternoon-looking the typical Montrealer, in his jeans and black, puffy down jacket-I'll be honest, I was relieved but slightly disappointed. I wasn't really expecting a wizard with a long, velvet cape and a pointy hat, but I was hoping for a certain degree of wizardly pomp and circumstance-a flash of sparkly, purple nail polish, perhaps? I decided it would be impolite to inquire about where his wand was hidden.

As far as spirit-channelling paraphernalia goes, Anthony travels light. Employing only reflective sunglasses to create a barrier between us, Anthony touched my hands and asked me to state my first and last names. No eyes rolling into the back of his head. No speaking in creepy, childlike voices. He simply asked my permission to begin and within minutes, my spirit guides appeared to him.

"I can see them right now: they're right above your head. It's a man ... an older man."

He explained that, although he was talking to me, he was actually communicating with the guide just above me. I decided to just go with the idea that it was possible that an older man was hovering over my head (when in Rome?).

Having resolved beforehand to ask only general questions about my life-my grandfather had been told, accurately, by a seer-guru-type in India when he would die, and I wasn't going to make the same mistake-I was getting nowhere fast.

"You have to be more specific," he nagged.

So I threw caution to the wind and pulled out the big guns: Would I ever get married? (I had been dating someone for seven years, for the love of God.) Would I have children? How many? Would I have a happy life? And, most importantly, would I ever get my damned driver's licence?

He answered all my questions without hesitation, except, strangely, for the last-leaving me completely in the dark about my frustrated flirtation with car-driving. But one major life revelation was yet to come.

During our consultation, Anthony told me how he came to be a spiritual counsellor. When he lost his father very young, rather than seeing a therapist, he studied his pain and grief alone. Later, at sixteen, his higher awareness became self-evident when he lost his dog and presaged the street the dog would be found on days later: "That's when I knew I had to find somebody that was a medium who could teach me."

Although some of Anthony's divinations about me were, to be fair, pretty off the mark, I will make one confession: during my reading, he told me that I would not be working for Maisonneuve for much longer. He revealed that I would get a job with another magazine, one that involved travel, that had offices in Europe and the US. Sure, it would have been easy enough to find out I was nearing the end of my four-month internship, but how the hell could he have known that, three days later, I would be offered a job at a travel magazine with international offices? Was I wrong about this North Face-clad soothsayer? Had he parked a Nimbus 2000 just outside the office without my noticing?

If we accept that dying does not signal the end of our consciousness but simply the death of our physical body-and that our soul survives and exists elsewhere-then, perhaps, we can accept that it's possible to make contact with that consciousness and all its emotions and memories. Or not. Decide for yourself at Maisonneuve's third annual {Not Just} Art Event on April 21, when Anthony will be giving private readings all night long. He can also be contacted for a longer consultation at (514) 643-2273. You can visit his website at: www.angelfire.com/hi5/energyressources.com.

Biography of a Medium
Anthony D'Adderio is a gifted spiritual counsellor (medium) and healer. His search for the meaning of life has taken him to kabbalah workshops, through which he has become attuned to both his spiritual and angel guides, and he has initiated himself as an adept or magus who works to help people. In 2000, he began courses on reiki energy healing and other powerful healing matrices. He has continued on to cymatics and polarity therapy, which focus on removing blockages and allowing energy to flow correctly through the meridians. Over the years, he has studied with healers such as Ken Page, Diane Shewmaker, Tom Seaman and Patrick Zeigler. Healing sessions and reiki workshops range from $70 per session to $150 for a full-day workshop (includes a book). Anthony's mission is to assist anyone who wishes to achieve a more peaceful and spiritual life.

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