By CHRIS WILLIAMS
Source Staff Writer
Utica, Shelby Township Edition
October 2008
Kelly MacLeod knows some people are skeptical of her work.
It’s par for the course to encounter nonbelievers when you claim to be able to connect with the spirit world and receive messages from loved ones who have passed away. Some people mock her, others claim it’s ungodly and still others are simply cynics.
But MacLeod, a medium based out of Shelby Township, said she welcomes the skeptics. Sometimes she’s even able to convince them.
“Some of the comments that I receive after a gallery are amazing,” she said. “I had one man come up to me after a recent gallery and told me, ‘I was a complete skeptic.’ But I had connected with someone close to him and he said, ‘You used words that only I would have used.’”
MacLeod said the message received for the man also put him in an awkward position, revealing to his friends in attendance that he had recently declared bankruptcy.
“None of his friends knew this; he hadn’t told anyone,” MacLeod said. “He just looked at the people and said, ”Surprise.’”
MacLeod, who will host a gallery Oct. 29 at the UAW Local 228 in Sterling Heights, said she is well aware of her critics. That is why, when she connects with the spirit world and brings back a message from a loved one, she makes sure to only pass along messages that can be specified and verified by only the recipient.
“When I’m connecting with loved ones, they receive a specific message, not something general like ‘Does anyone have a grandmother named Mary’,” she said. “I get specific information that is not generalized. A name, a date. We want to get as specific as we can.”
MacLeod is the author of “Messages and Miracles from the Other Side,” and studied at the Arthur Findley College in England, a world-renowned institution for the study of spiritual and psychic sciences. She hosts private readings from her office in Shelby Township, but also hosts public galleries and demonstrations, which often sell out weeks in advance.
MacLeod described the galleries as being similar to ones done by popular television medium John Edward. During the 2-hour session, she will not only connect with the other side to bring back messages for certain audience members, but will also discuss the signs from the other side in everyday life that people often ignore or miss.
“We talk about how to recognize the signs and symbols from the other side, and what they represent, whether they are numbers, senses or symbols,” she said. “A lot of times we can miss those signs just because we don’t know how to pay attention. Just like when you’re driving and talking at the same time, you can miss your exit, you can miss the signs being given from the other side.”
Many of MacLeod’s clients and those who attend her galleries have lost friends and family members, and are looking for a communication or a sign that they are doing alright. MacLeod said while they need not worry because the spirit world is a place of complete joy, sometimes it helps those still living to know that they are being watched over.
“It’s really amazing. For some people, they just need to know that their loved ones are still with them,” MacLeod said. “I was connecting for one lady and her dad kept saying ‘spaghetti’ over and over, and she did not know what it meant. And then it hit her that she had been making spaghetti an hour before coming, and it was just a sign that he saw her and still paid attention to her.”
MacLeod cautions that not everyone hoping to receive a message will receive personal communication from the other side. However, she said the messages received and the verification confirmed by the recipients speaks to all people in attendance. Those messages, she said, are meant as healing for the living.
“When people walk out, they walk out not only with their own personal message, but sometimes are touched by someone else’s or the simple fact that we’re not alone,” she said. “People want something to cling on to. And if we can give that to them, they can let go of their own guilt and they get a sense of peace.”
Kelly MacLeod will host a gallery at UAW Local 228 on Mound Road in Sterling Heights from 7 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 29. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and no late entries will be permitted. Admission is $35 in advance and $45, cash only, at the door if available. To order tickets or for more information, call 1-888-KELLY4U.
