The Scent of the Jasmine

In our garden in a house in the mountains about 60 kilometres from Rio stands a Jasmine tree that comes into bloom every spring and there it is now, showing its delicate waxen, white petals, looking beautiful and filling the garden with that unique, powerful and yet subtle scent of Jasmine. It is one of the great rewards of coming here at this time of the year.

Last year in Orlando, Florida, I was privileged to be invited to conduct a service of naming for a newborn infant. She was very tiny, had arrived prematurely in our world and had already shown remarkable psychic gifts, even at her age and despite not yet being able to speak of course. One thing that happened in the hospital will illustrate what I mean. A friend, visiting her mother asked one morning if the nurse had any idea when mother and baby would be allowed home. Instead of replying, the nurse exclaimed in amazement, “Look at the clock and look at the baby!” The baby was smiling and looking at the clock, the hands of which were moving forward rapidly. Eventually they came to rest at 2.30. It was exactly 2.30pm next day when the baby left the hospital with her mother!

Several people also mentioned that it appeared to them, not only did the baby seem to understand what they were saying, but it also seemed at times that she was speaking to them! The baby’s grandmother is a very gifted Spiritualist medium and, as psychic gifts are an inherited faculty, it comes as no surprise to me that it should happen in this case – but to manifest so early is truly remarkable. In the British Spiritualist Naming Ceremony, one of the most rewarding and moving tasks the medium conducting the service has to perform is to give the child a Spirit Name, in addition to the names chosen by the parents. The medium receives the Spirit Name from the spiritual world, either clairaudiently or through inspiration.

In this case I attuned myself to the spiritual world in advance of the ceremony and received the names Jasmine Joy. Her grandmother, the medium I mentioned above told me later that, until she heard me pronounce the spirit names, she could not understand why, from the time she awoke until the time for the ceremony, she had smelled the overpowering scent of Jasmine! Once I gave the Spirit Name of course she understood. Isn’t it wonderful the way the power of the spirit works in and through us in such remarkable ways? Each spring in my garden in the mountains, I am reminded of this beautiful little girl to whom spirit entrusted me with the honour and privilege of receiving and giving her Spirit Name. The name is so appropriate to her, for she is as pale and delicate as the flower and sheds a sweet radiance around her in the same way as the tree spreads its unforgettable scent to all nearby.