The Andre Chronicles, Chapter 2:
Psychic Energy Projection With What?

It was early July on a Thursday morning of what usually promises to be the busiest camping weekend of the year. I knew that I had best secure site early if I was to find a decent spot to set up my tent and work. I'm a lover of the outdoors and usually camp in style. I honestly think a roomy ten-person tent is just perfect for two people. My own humble canvas abode is a new huge luxury model, complete with a full screen porch and two closets. It accommodates my queen sized bed frame and small desk with room to spare.

I wanted to find a place away from my office and constantly ringing phones to write. There was also the inner need to just spend time staring into a campfire. I had a new course to create handouts for, a current writing project to add to, and some deep thinking to do.

As I set up my tent, kitchen, and campfire living room, I thought of Andre and the energy work he and I had done the week before. It seemed so real but surreal at the same time.

Since we met, I'd learned a little more about his growing up. Like myself, Andre went through a spiritual searching phase in his high school years. In his teens he discovered he was able to astrally project. My eyebrows rose as he spoke of the details of his youth. His interest in psychic phenomena had been identical to mine, and at exactly the same age. That explained a few things for me.

I'd also spent time during the past week searching my metaphysical library for any kind of literature that even remotely described what he had demonstrated to me. Honestly, I came up short; zip, zero, nada. Nowhere in any of my magical or metaphysical research did I find mention of someone who could, through touch, transmit powerful images and experiences. I had no idea what to call this unique ability of his, and I toyed with several descriptors.

Energy conduit. Energy beaming. Transporter.

I had to laugh. Everything I came up with sounded like something from science fiction. Finally I shrugged and stopped trying to give it a title.

Just after I set out the last folding chair around the fire pit, my cell phone rang and Andre asked where I was. He said there was something he wanted to show me. The campground was less than an hour from his home and he indicated he would meet me after supper. As usual, our conversation was short, and on the cryptic side.

As early evening shifted the light to a gentler level with auburn hues, I lit the fire and brought my personal journal out of the tent. It had been several days since I'd caught up on the entries. I settled into my comfy Coleman chair and began to write, trying to honestly document the unusual energy experiences with Andre. Sitting amidst the aroma of a sputtering campfire, part of me felt as if I was writing fiction, while in my core I knew what I had experienced was deep, moving and very, very real.

It was just after seven when Andre pulled up. As he approached I saw him assess the surroundings, and note the empty chair on the side of the campfire away from the drift of the smoke. His eyes took in everything from the proximity of neighboring campers to the pen marking a place in my closed journal. He waved away an offer for a beer, letting me know that he wasn't much of a drinker. I tried to make small talk for a few moments, and quickly found that this man just wasn't much for chitchat. He politely listened, but said nothing. Finally, I came to the point.

"You said you wanted to show me something?" I offered. In all honesty, I had no concept of what was coming, not even a psychic hint of what he was thinking about doing. His own personal shields were very strongly in place, making him hard to read. "You mentioned you taught a class," he said. I nodded. My new Thursday night group just had their first introduction to energy projection the week before.

"You said you could toss energy." It was a matter of fact statement. Andre stopped and I sensed he was both waiting for a response and sizing up whether I was ready for whatever he was about to offer next.

"Yes," I answered. "I've been teaching them about forming energy balls that have enough oomph when they're thrown to make someone take a step backwards." I wondered briefly if he wanted me to teach him how to do this, but something told me that wasn't quite why he was here.

He nodded, and his head cocked slightly to one side.

"Show me," he said simply.

"You want me to show you how to form an energy ball?" I asked.

"No. Show me what you can do."

Used to being the teacher, suddenly I felt like I was a student under the scrutiny of a master. Now I knew Andre didn't want to learn from me. Rather, he wanted to see what level I was at. This was a test and I was being sized up. That put a whole new spin on things.

Somewhat hesitantly, I replied, "Okay."

"Over here." He uncrossed his arms and indicated with a finger a level place in the soft grass. I stood and moved from the campfire toward the edge of the forest choosing a spot a dozen or so paces away. I looked around, noting that the position of my large tent, our vehicles and the fire kept us somewhat hidden from the prying eyes of the other campers. He walked over, took up a position across from me and waited calmly. I was unusually nervous and shook my head, consternated. This was not like me. With my students I was very confident about my shields and the energy I was able to bring up and utilize. Why did I suddenly feel like an ant next to an elephant?

"Just show me what you can do," I heard him say.

If he wants to see what I can do, by Goddess I'm going to show him, I thought inwardly. Here goes nothing.

I dropped my consciousness down and grounded, forming a conduit or mental pipeline deep into the center of the planet. I exhaled, cleared out the pipe, and focused on nothing but breathing in and drawing up energy from the earth's magma core into my body. I let it create a brilliant fireball in my belly, and then moved the prana out my arms and palms, forming a ball between my hands. I inhaled more earth energy, exhaled and packed the sphere between my slightly cupped fingers into a potent snowball of light. Within a minute or so, it was the size of a basketball and throbbing with a pulse all its own. I inhaled quickly, exhaled forcefully and threw it at Andre with everything that I could.

It should have bowled him over backwards. Instead, the invisible fireball seemed to dissolve on impact. Andre stood across from me as if nothing had happened

'What the...?' Stunned, I wondered where the heck my energy ball had gone. What was happening here? That impact should have at least shaken him up a bit. It must have had some effect; it always did with my students.

"Did you feel that at all?" I blurted out.

"Doesn't matter, do it again," was all he replied.

What did he mean doesn't matter! Of course it mattered! Confused, I dropped down again and redoubled my efforts to draw up energy from the planet's core. This time I was careful to make very sure the fireball formed between my palms was as potent a force as I could muster. I took careful aim, and threw it at Andre with all my might, hitting him square in the chest.

Or at least it should have hit him in the chest. I swear it went right through him.

He just stood there. There was no indication he put up any kind of shield nor did I see him try to deflect the charge. The force just seemed to pass through his body and beyond into the forest.

Damn! Was I doing something wrong? No, this sort of energy worked well with my students. I was forming and throwing some of my best stuff, yet before I could ask a single question, I heard him speak.

"Would you like to experience something a little stronger than that?"

I blinked. Not too many people I knew could even form energy balls, much less make them potent, or boast about creating anything stronger than what I taught my class. Andre had tossed a magical gauntlet down onto the grass in front of me. I looked from the grass, across the twilight space to this unusual man. Was he aware he was challenging me? His body language gave no clue.

I smiled and then frowned slightly. One part of me doubted he could really show me something that was in any way stronger. However, I have to admit he had my curiosity piqued. A part of my mind devilishly whispered, let's see what he really is made of. Yet, the same time there was an angel cautioning me from opposite shoulder. Be careful what you wish for, she said. After all, my own invisible fireballs didn't seem to have any effect on this man and I wasn't yet sure why.

"Something stronger? Sure," I replied casually. Silently, my devilish side reacted. More than a little cocky, I thought, this is going to be good.

Silly me.

The evening light levels were slowly fading as Andre motioned me to remain standing where I was. Luckily we had the campground nearly to ourselves and were partially hidden in the deepening shadows next to the forest. No prying eyes were close by to watch what was about to take place.

"What are you..?" I began.
Andre motioned me to be quiet and said simply, "Just stand there."
I complied, hands at my sides, waiting. It's difficult to describe that first intense energy ball of Andre's. I had no idea what to expect and remained totally unshielded.

To the naked eye, Andre backed up a pace or two and stood perhaps fifteen feet away from me. I watched him still his body, hands at his sides. He closed his eyes and even in the growing shadow of the late evening, the air around him suddenly began to shimmer like a heat wave coming off of hot pavement. Andre's arms began to rise, extending out to his sides and the electrical charge in the air around us shifted suddenly, going from normal to a pre-lightening storm kind of intensity. My psychic senses went on instant high alert, as in the blink of an eye, he seemed to grow broader and stronger. Andre began to emit what seemed like a supercharged field all around him. If the air had begun to audibly crackle, I would not have been surprised.

It all happened in a split second. Suddenly I was standing across from a man who was a force to be reckoned with. In front of me Andre had somehow taken on the feel of an ancient but deadly warrior who was ready for battle. I didn't know how or why I felt that way, but I knew it was so. Before my inner self could finish the phrase "oh crap," his arms and hands moved at a speed my eyes could not follow and I felt myself knocked backward physically about five steps. I struggled hard to keep my balance and not hit the ground. My feet groped for solid footing and my arms flailed wildly as a wave of something I had never quite experienced before nearly flattened me. This was not anything like the energy balls that my students and I had been playing with. It was the difference between a candle flame and a supernova.

I tried to keep my composure as Andre dropped his hands to his sides and once more shielded himself. In a heartbeat, the supercharged being that had just about knocked me flat shifted into a normal every day sort of man. Superman had again put on his Clark Kent disguise, complete with thick black glasses.

My mouth opened and closed in amazement. How the hell did he do that so fast?

"So?" was all he said.

Shaken, I stumbled toward my camp chair and sat down heavily. I was filled with questions. What was that? What sort of source did he draw from? How long had he known how to do that? How did he learn? Was this his full strength? What else could he do? Could I shield from this energy? Could anything? Can he teach me to throw a force like that? "What IS he...some sort of ascended master...mahatma...wizard?"

'So.. ' Andre's query echoed in my mind as I struggled to process it all. Dumbly, the first word out of my mouth was simply, "Wow!" I felt like an idiot having been so cocky before. Andre waited quietly, steeling himself for the brace of questions that were about to come. His eyes pierced through the twilight, reading me like a book.

"Before you ask, no, that was not full strength," he told me.
That stopped me. If his supernova mode was not full strength, what the heck was?
"And I doubt you can put up a shield that can block against this energy."
It was a matter of fact statement, not a boast, not a threat.. simply a this is the just way it is sort of reality. He could tell I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. Andre knew I was trying to figure out whether what he stated was true or just a bunch of bull-hockey.

"Stand up," he said quietly. "Go over there and put up a shield."
I complied and moved again to the soft grass. Wary now, I began the process of grounding, bringing up energy, and putting up a protective field around my body. Andre took up the same position as before and waited patiently as I went through my usual sequence. All the while, I could tell he was slightly amused at the time it took for me to erect a simple but strong shield. Finally, after close to a minute, I nodded. I was ready.

Or so I thought.

He closed his eyes and his arms again rose from his sides, the open palms facing downwards. As before, I could have sworn that his shoulders and arms somehow grew and broadened. For an instant, I thought I saw his face change but dismissed it, convinced it was just a trick of the low light levels and night coming on. His palms turned to face me. The last thing I heard was Andre sucking in a quick deep breath. Then, at lightening speed, both arms drew in toward his chest and suddenly thrust forward in my direction.

The blast wave crossed the few feet between us and hit my simple light bubble shield. Suddenly I felt like a space capsule on re-entry with fire and flames dancing off its sides from the friction of contacting the Earth's atmosphere. An instant later, my shields were totally blown away; gone, kaput, dead. The moment they dissolved, I felt the shock wave run through my body like an electrical pulse had just burst in front of me. It only lasted for a microsecond, but that was enough. I stood there incredulous, feeling naked and vulnerable as I realized that my body's muscles were acting erratic. Every part of me was slightly twitching.

Meanwhile, Andre simply stood across the grass from me, his shields already in place again. He'd shifted back to his normal everyday mode, and felt rather like a man waiting for a bus.. expectant, nonplussed. It was then that I noticed that the din of the crickets in the forest behind us had gone silent. Odd. He cocked his head slightly in my direction, as if giving me permission to speak.

"So?" was all he said again.

The blast wave had hit me so hard, I wasn't sure if I could make it back to my Coleman chair. I stood straighter, squared my shoulders, and tried to still the slight trembling that was affecting every muscle in my body. Part of me felt as if I'd just touched a light socket and gotten a good jolt. While I knew that this wasn't exactly like an electrical shock, it sure seemed to be affecting my muscles and nervous system. Pretending that I was fine, I carefully ventured back to my seat in front of the fire, working at maintaining my balance and not showing how much of an effect he'd really had on me. Andre's eyes followed knowingly. There was a hint of amusement in them.

"How are your shields?" he asked. It was a rhetorical question. He strolled casually back to his chair by the fire, sat, and lit a cigarette. I snorted in response. Damn! He knew he'd blown right though my shields and knocked me for one hell of a loop. "You're no slouch," I said with a slight grimace, rubbing the tops of my tingling legs.
"In the area of energy work," the pseudo Jedi-master remarked, "You are my padawan learner." "Hai, Sensei," I responded, resigned. He was right. This man was already an expert at his craft. I was outclassed.

Letting my muscles calm, I took a sip of water from the bottle by the chair, examining him across the fire with new eyes. To look at Andre, one would have no idea of his strange abilities.

Yet, I couldn't help but sense a much greater age emanating from him. Part of me felt as if I was sitting across from an eight hundred year old yogi or ascended master. I knew, or thought I knew, that this couldn't possibly be true. Part of me felt foolish, but I had to ask. "How old are you?" I suddenly blurted. Andre blinked. It was a question he didn't expect. "My birth certificate says I'm forty," he replied. My birth certificate says? I'd never heard anyone answer a question about his age that way. I felt like he was telling me the truth, but something was missing. I took a chance and asked again.
"Yes, but how old are you really?" I pressed.
"As far as I know, I'm forty," he replied. He didn't act as if this quizzing about his age were strange at all. Andre took a relaxed draw on his cigarette, looking at me.
"Why, what do you think you perceive?" he queried.
There was an amused lilt in his voice. His eyes watched me carefully, taking in every detail. It was as if he were discerning whether or not I was on the right track. I felt like he was in some way waiting for me to solve a puzzle that he alone knew the answer to. "Well.." I hesitated, trying to determine the best way to word things. "This may sound strange, but you come across a lot older than that." "How old do you think I am?" he asked quietly.
I suddenly felt like an idiot. How could I tell this man my psychic senses put him closer to eight hundred years old? I looked down, embarrassed.
Andre simply waited, his eyes locked onto me. He could tell I was struggling with this. I looked away and stared into the campfire's embers. Finally I had the courage to speak.
"I think you're much, much older than forty," I said very quietly.
"How old?" he repeated patiently.

I sighed heavily. He was going to think I was nuts.
"Oh, I don't know." I tried to sound casual. "Um.. more like eight hundred years or so, give or take a few." I didn't look at him, but steeled myself against whatever his response would be. Maybe he would think I was just joking; however, a good part of me honestly expected him to just plain get up and leave thinking he had a real kook on his hands.
"Hmm," was his only reply. His eyebrows danced once in amusement. In the flicker of the firelight I saw his mouth twitch as he tried not to release a smile. Other than that small reaction, he remained silent and still. I could tell Andre was watching and waiting, like he expected or hoped for more from me somehow. This was another challenge, an unspoken test.
Well, I thought, at least he didn't call me a nut case. That nagging feeling there was more to this story tugged at me. My logical left brain was working hard trying to figure out what the heck my psychic senses were picking up when another, even crazier thought crossed my mind. Before I could filter it, the words tumbled out of me.

"Are you from Earth?" I blurted. "Are you human?"

That question would have set most people back for several seconds at least. Andre didn't even miss a beat. "I'm from Earth," he answered back, and then I saw him pause. The silence thickened over the campfire. I noticed very distinctly that he did not respond to the rest of my question. Most people would have immediately affirmed, "Yes, I'm human."

Andre did not.

A strange feeling came over me. Even sitting within four feet of a blazing campfire, I suddenly went cold. Goose bumps rose on my arms and the hair at the nape of my neck stood up. Inwardly, I sensed that I had just climbed into the seat of a metaphysical roller coaster that was somehow about to take me for the ride of my life.