When people ask me how I began channeling, “how I knew I had this gift,” they usually expect to hear something cosmic such as “Michael appeared to me in my kitchen. They spoke to me out of the flame of my range and told me that it was my destiny to channel them,” or something like that. However, the truth is actually much more down-to-earth.

One day, I was reading a magazine, and in the back was an ad for Famous Channelers’ School (FCS). FCS offers a home-study course taught by world-renowned channels such as Maureen Johnson (who channels Millard Fillmore), Stephen (who channels a fifty-thousand-year-old Atlantean fashion designer, El Elan), and Lester Dumkowski (who channels extraterrestrials from the Great Green Cheese Brotherhood). I had never thought much about channeling, but they offered a free evaluation of your channeling talent. I thought, “What the heck!” and decided to give it a try. After all, I had nothing to lose.

The test simply consisted of drawing a picture of a dog they were thinking of. I tuned in to the Famous Channelers’ School, and an image of a miniature poodle popped in to my mind — I didn’t know why — so I drew it and sent it off. A few weeks later, when I had all but forgotten about the test, the results came in the mail. To my surprise, they had been thinking of a miniature poodle! They said I had a natural gift for channeling, and offered me a special deal on their course — just $499.95. So I decided to enroll.

The first entity I channeled was Alfred E. Neuman, which was interesting, in light of the fact that I had seen the ad for the school in Mad Magazine. I found his energy and insight quite healing, but after a while, “What, me worry?” was just not specific enough advice. I decided to look for another entity. It was then that Michael appeared to me in my kitchen, that very evening, while I was cooking dinner. They spoke to me out of the flame of the left rear burner of my Kenmore range. It was a miracle, because that burner had not been working, and now, flames were leaping four feet in the air! It was especially impressive because I had an electric range. After that, the whole thing broke down and I had to junk it. Anyway, Michael told me that we had agreements for me to channel them and for them to assist me in my spiritual growth. They said that Alfred’s task was just to get me ready.

What was really interesting is that I had almost ordered in Chinese food that night, and something told me to cook up a big pot of pork and beans instead. I guess it was just my destiny. Anyway, I’ve been channeling Michael ever since.