PSYCHED UP
agreed. He said of studying
the stars: "It is no science at
all, but mere foolery . . . and
it behooves us never to
engage in it."
Despite Maimonides' and
biblical warnings, Jews have
been as prone as anyone to
trying to see into the future.
In the Middle Ages, an itchy
sole meant an upcoming
journey; a candle was
lighted each day between
Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, with an extin-
guished flame meaning
death before the year's end;
and gazing into a clear sur-
face provided answers to
one's questions.
Many Jews today still
believe in the power of
talismans, , such as the red
thread wound seven times
around Rachel's tomb out-
side Bethlehem, said to be a
safeguard against evil. And
what simchah would be
complete without repeated
utterances of "mazal tov,"
which originally meant
"May the stars [signs of the
zodiac] be in your favor."
T
his is no ordinary
office. Walk in as a
housewife or a truck
driver and come out with the
knowledge that you were once
Cleopatra or Napoleon.
Elaine Lewis reads
Tarot cards:
"I'm interested in where
you are and what you
want to do to better
yourself."
28
FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 1990
The conduit to the past is a
chaise lounge in the
Southfield office of Sol
Lewis, director of both the
Michigan Hypnosis Institute
and the Michigan
Metaphysical Society.
Guests come in, relax and
are guided slowly, slowly
into the past to meet their
former selves.
Lewis has believed in rein-
carnation since he was 6,
when he brought a dead
sparrow he had found to his
father.
Sol buried the bird, and
prayed for it every night.
The rain fell heavily for
several days, then Sol
discovered the sparrow in a
muddy puddle of water. He
told his parents, "God
doesn't want the bird." His
friends laughed.
But Sol's mother took him
aside and comforted him.
"The bird's spirit did go
home," she said. "Only the
body is left."
The youngest child of Or-
thodox Jewish parents, Sol
Lewis' first experience with
those he calls "in spirit,"
otherwise known as the
dead, occurred after his
father died in 1929.
Lewis looked on in
amazement as his brothers
and sisters wept when
pallbearers carried his
New Age music
and the smell of
thick incense fill
the Michigan
Metaphysical
Society Bookstore.
The shelves here
are replete with
booklets with titles
like Poetry of
Reincarnation and
Freedom from
Harmful Voices.
father's coffin. "What are
you crying for?" he called.
"My father is with God!
You're following an empty
casket!"
That night when he went
to bed, Lewis cried out to his
father: "Pa, what's going
on?" The answer came in a
dream.
"You look so young,"
Lewis said to his father.
"We control time here," he
answered. Then his father
introduced Lewis to a man in
a long, blue robe. "This is
your teacher."
The dream ended.
Throughout his youth,
Lewis sought answers to his
questions about death and
religion.