On Oct. 15, Crull came to Unity of Bloomington to share what she calls one of her “gifts” to a small group of listeners. Her gift, she said, is channeling: being a conduit for spiritual beings who wish to speak to humans.
“I didn’t realize until 1990 that I could channel,” Crull said. “It took me awhile to realize that these beings I was talking to were beings I had channeled as a toddler.”
Crull was 39 when she began to pursue channeling seriously. Prior to that, she said had been a marriage and family therapist, licensed in Indiana and studying under various mystic teachers on the side.
After channeling became a priority, Crull moved to Oregon, Washington D.C. and Cape Cod to study with other channelers and spiritual teachers, intermittently coming back to Bloomington throughout the years.
Last Thursday, she was back for class.
In a dimly-lit room, she explained cheerfully to her class what would happen: she would close her eyes and the spirits would take over from there.
“Relax, enjoy, drink in the energy, because it’s coming,” Crull said.
Her audience — 10 women and one man circled around her — laughed.
Then she bowed her head.
When she lifted it again and spoke, it was not quite her voice.
“Greetings, dear ones,” Crull said.
But an accent colored the voice — although it was not a brand new voice, it was still markedly different.
Before she began, she had told her audience that asking her (or the spirit) where the accent came from would be pointless. She said most people found it “unidentifiable” and guessed that it was Irish, English or Indian, among others.
So no one asked.
As she spoke, Crull seemed to be prophesying.
“The masculine and feminine in the world have been out of balance,” Crull said. “The feminine is rising up.”
Crull spoke at length, opening the room up for questions after nearly 40 minutes.
“I have a question,” one woman said. “Can you tell me what kind of publishing is in my future?”
Crull settled back into her chair.
“If you have things to say, then just say them,” Crull said. “It is your time to speak, don’t worry about the format — what format your words will take.”
The woman began to cry.
At least four of the women asked her questions. So did the man. He wanted to know why his entrepreneurial career was stagnating. Up until then, he had sat with his arms crossed. Now, he leaned in.
Crull thought again.
“It’s a mindset, like you said,” Crull said. “You answered your own question for yourself.”
The man nodded, seemingly satisfied.
After a while, Crull asked for the time. She said the spirits had noticed she was worried about the time, even though she had not gone over her allotted time for the class.
“This one always worries about the time,” Crull said.
When it ended, she lifted her head and said, “Wow.” She said she has no knowledge of what was said during the channeling.
One of the women who sat next to her, Brianne Jamerson, said she had walked into the room a skeptic.
“I was nervous at first,” Jamerson said. “It’s an unusual concept.”
Crull said she’s used to people walking out of group sessions.
Jamerson didn’t come quite on her accord. Ruth Thelin, a friend, had encouraged her to come.
“I came to support Brianne’s first time,” Thelin said. “I’ve been to private channelings and I came back to hear these things again. The themes are similar in private channelings and group channelings.”
Crull offers in-home classes on channeling and mysticism. After her session on Thursday, Jamerson signed up for her classes.
“My challenge, like everyone else, is learning to listen,” Crull said. “We all channel, just in different ways: hunches, God, et cetera.”
