Brad Pitt is shown on 1/27/08; Anne Heche on 6/7/07. Credit: PRPhotos

This week’s tabloids have stories of two celebrities who are into holding seances and channeling spirits. One is unsurprising, but another is a celebrity you wouldn’t expect to be into that sort of thing. According to the National Enquirer, Anne Heche is friends with a seer who claims to contact the dead and Heche has been holding seances to talk to her departed relatives. If Star Magazine is to be believed, Brad Pitt also thinks he’s communing with the dead and is into “deep-trance spirit channeling.” I would bet that Pitt is only doing meditative practices when he can find the time and that Star is twisting it into something else. Either that or Star is trying to promote the documentary they’re name-dropping:

Pals say [Anne Heche] is hosting seances to contact long-dead relatives…

“Anne recently became friends with this New Age seer who sold her a psychic trip about connecting with ancestors going back to the 15th century,” said the pal.

The psychic claims she can see the dead and talk to them, and Anne now believes she has a long-lost sister whom she hopes to contact through the medium, said the souce.

“Anne’s held at least four seances with close friends and believes her link to the past will help her pave the way for a smoother future,” the source said.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, December 15, 2008]

Pitt is said to be into a more individual form of contacting spirits – deep trance channeling. Star does get the first part of the story right as Brad has talked in interviews recently about his quest for meaning:

[Brad Pitt] is “having sort of a midlife crisis,” a source tells Star. “He’s asking the big questions, like ‘What do I want to do with the rest of my life?'” Brad is turning to spiritual leaders, including the Dalai Lama, for advice. He’s also taken up deep-trance spirit channeling, trying to commune with ghosts, after watching the documentary Tuning In: Spirit Channelers in America. Angelina Jolie is trying to be supportive but is now worried that Brad may become obsessed. Says the source, “He’s looking for a script about channeling, but Angie’s afraid that if he tries to bring it into the mainstream, people will really think he’s gone off the deep end.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, December 15, 2008]

I highly doubt that Pitt is into this, but there are some compelling aspects to it and it’s different than a typical seance. The deep spirit channelers in that film that Pitt supposedly watched claim they’re channeling these evolved bengs that have messages of hope and understanding for mankind. Some, like Lee Carroll, have meditation exercises that help you relax and receive messages from what they claim is a divine source. It’s not something I believe but the themes of hope and personal enlightenment these channelers are touting are universal. You can learn more about it by viewing a few videos on YouTube, linked below. Some of the people seem somewhat sincere and others seem full of it.

It seems strange and rather bogus to me, but people get into this and it does provide a kind of guidance and belief system that is not unlike religion or self help in general. I’ve had friends that believed in stuff like this and I’m not one to judge. All that said, this is Star Magazine reporting this blurb and it seems suspicious that they’re mentioning a certain documentary. It could be the last time we’re hearing “Pitt” and “Spirit Channeling” together – at least until this rumor dies down on the Internet in about ten days.

Here’s more about “deep spirit channeling.” Some of these videos are kind of amusing, especially when you check out the expressions on these people’s faces as they “channel.”

– Trailer for Tuning In: Spirit Channelers in America
– Darryl Anka channeling Bashar, talks about “Abundance” and living in the moment
– A deep spirit channeling meditation that is similar to other guided meditations.
– Lee Carroll channels Kryon.
– This guy was not featured in the documentary I just couldn’t pass this up. Bart Smit channels Dr. Williams.
– Esther Hicks channels Veronica. She wasn’t featured in the documentary either.