gdead.berkeley.edu/gdead.berkeley.edu.tar/gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/WendyWeir-September-08-1999

Text File | 2006-07-04 | 51KB | 860 lines

Transcipt: Wendy Weir interview 9/8/99 Dead To The World
on KPFA radio

DG = David Gans
WW = Wendy Weir


 DG: I've got a guest here in the studio and her name is Wendy Weir. She's the
 sister of Bob Weir and she's the author of a new book called "In The Spirit:
 Conversations with the Spirit of Jerry Garcia". She has an extremely
 interesting story to tell.

 WW: Thank you, David.
 DG: Welcome
 WW: I'm glad to be here

 DG: Why don't you begin at the beginning.
 WW: (laughs) Jerry died...
 DG: That's not the beginning of that many interesting stories, that's an
 interesting place to start..
 WW: Well, we're talking about the Grateful Dead so it's a good place to
 start. There's so many places to begin with this one. There's the reality of
 Jerry dying and Bob calling me a few hours after Jerry's death to ask me to
 check in on him for him, which I did telepathically. This is something that
 Bob and I have done for probably the past 10 years or so. When a close friend
 dies, he'll call and he'll say "Hey, can you find out what's going on and how
 are they doing?" And so I'll enter a state of meditation and sort of raise my
 frequencies and touch base and find out what's going on in the life
 hereafter.

 DG: How did you get started doing that?
 WW: It sorta goes back to our own parents' death. When I was 21, Bob was 23,
 and I had a vision of something-  my mother had just passed away and I had a
 vision of her wanting me to do something like...the exact vision was her
 wedding band  was on her finger and she wanted me to... and this is after she
 passed away, so this is the vision-  she wanted me to put it in the urn with
 her. And so I continued on and off to have these visions and finally got to
 the point-
 DG: Did you do that for her?
 WW: I did, yes.
 DG: You surprised yourself?
 WW: I surprised myself, I also surprised the mortician. I don't want this
 conversation to be morbid because when I went to the hospital to pick up her
 belongings in security her wedding band was actually in there. I did get to
 the mortuary and ask the mortician to open up the urn and put the wedding
 band in there. Which we had a prolonged discussion about cause he couldn't do
 it and I was insistent. He finally took the band and went in the back to do
 it supposedly and all I know is that my mother was at peace, she didn't
 insist upon that anymore.

 So for a long time I would just have visions. Actually, I'd have a vision and
 then go back to normalcy which for me is not doing anything in the way of
 psychic work for about 7-8 years, and then something else would trigger it,
 and I finally began to wonder what the psychic phenomena was all about.
 Telepathy and visions and actually started working with a teacher and have
 worked with teachers on and off for the past 15-16 years.

 DG: When I first met you 10 or 15 years ago you were in the mortgage banking
 business?
 WW: I was in banking, it wasn't mortgage banking. I was vice president of a
 bank and doing a lot of financial work and still do some consulting.
 DG: Not much call for telepathy in that realm..
 WW: No, not a lot of spiritual realization or creative outlet for me
 either...
 DG: So there's sort of a personal journey going on here as well.
 WW: Very much. But getting back to the visions, I finally got tired of having
 visions and wanted to find out what these visions or spirits had to say to me
  so I started working with channeling. And actually learned from a book.
 Bought a book on channeling and learned how to do it on my own.
 DG: And what was your first subject of channeling?
 WW: I found out what not to do. (laughter) I missed a few sentences in the
 book.
 I went into a meditative state, raised my energies, and was so excited
 because I made contact with some 'beings'. It's sort of like going up in the
 elevator and having the elevator doors open  and my vision was yelling and
 screaming and barbarians and brutal cutthroat people running around with
 knives and swords and cutlasses. They saw me- this is the elevator of my
 vision- and there was a total silence for a second and then they decided they
 were going to attack me. At that point I could figure out-- well, I know I'm
 channeling and these are spirits but can they really kill me? My instincts
 cut in and I closed the doors of the elevator and I came back into my
 conscious state. Quite perturbed, to put it mildly.
 DG: What do you supposed the answer is? Could they have actually have harmed
 you on that level?
 WW: I didn't stick around for that. What I did was reread the book and
 there's one  sentence saying "Be sure you raise your frequency high enough so
 that you don't connect with these disincarnate...so next time I went a little
 bit higher and was okay. And I've been doing it ever since.

 DG: We're talking with Wendy WEir, sister of Bob Weir and author of "In The
 Spirit: COnversations with the Spirit of Jerry Garcia". We're gonna take some
 phone calls this evening too...But i want to hear more of Wendy's story
 before we introduce more voices into it. So carry on please.

 WW: Back to what actually happened, Bob called me right after Jerry's death
 and asked me to check in on Jerry and I did that. And I wasn't able to get
 through.  I had this vision of him, this very very brilliant spirit, just
 ecstatic to be free of the pain of his physical body. He just wanted to
 leave. "I'm outa here" and there was no verbal communication. I kept trying
 and I finally got, in slow, distant words " I- can't- speak-to-you".

 And it's like, uh oh, something's wrong here. The next morning I went back
 into meditative state and tried again and still couldn't get through to him.
 I called Bob telepathically, cause Bob and I work like this. Bob joined me
 telepathically and we worked with Jerry to find out why he didn't want to
 come back and also to say  hey, we still need you here,; his mission is not
 complete. After a certain time he realized that and he's still with us, as
 the Grateful Dead.

 DG: This is almost uncannily like that Grateful Dead folk tale where you
 complete the business on earth of a dead person...
 WW: Don't you find it interesting that Jerry was the one who came up with
 that name?
 DG: Why, yes.
 WW: uh huh
 DG: Let's backtrack a little. Because there's a dog in this story.
 WW: Otis!
 DG: I thought that was an interesting part of this tale as well. Please talk
 about Otis' role in this. Otis, for those of you who don't know, was Bob
 Weir's beloved dog of 18 years and was a phenomenal character in his own
 right. I had the privilege of knowing Otis a bit too, over the years.
 WW: Otis was basically Bob's alter ego, and they connected up out of Stinson
 Beach when Otis was about 2 years old. They just sort of hit it off and Otis
 was sorta wandering around and Bob was sorta wandering around. Bob finally
 said "hey Otis, you wanna come home with me?" He brought Otis home.
 Otis was just this incredible personality. He was in a dog body but he was
 like Bob's best buddy. We always used to joke that Otis was from outer space
 because they just thought so much alike.
 DG: Does that mean you think Bob's from outer space?
 WW: Well, we probably all are. (laughter)
 DG: He's been observed being pretty spacy I would say.
 WW: It also includes Otis and how Otis got me back into drawing and back into
 doing childrens' books with Bob and the interesting part of all this is that
 Otis did it a year after he had died. Once again, his spirit came to me and
 kept bugging me, which is normal for Otis. He's quite relentless.
 DG: Excuse me if this seems flippant, but does the spirit of the dog speak
 English to you?
 WW: Yes. Everything does because  with telepathic communication it's done on
 a frequency, a vibration rate, and it comes into the brain and gets
 translated into English since that's the language I speak. If I was French,
 German it would be that language.
 DG: So It's a universal communication...
 WW: Yeah, it's a frequency communication

 DG: So back to Jerry
 WW: Back to Jerry. Jerry became the Grateful Dead and skipping around through
 the book it goes through a lot of different information from him. The first
 part of the book discusses Jerry from a higher place. I use the term
 'oversoul', which is another term for higher self. It's a place of wonderful
 wisdom and looking at all of our activities here on earth and how we feel and
 think from a higher perspective. The reason I had to go that high was that
 Jerry that had just passed on was on the astral plane and was unable to
 actually communicate. I went beyond that to understand what was going on and
 ended up getting about 16 sessions of information about how we should
 continues to live our life with peace and love and joy, that we are One. It's
 the message we've gotten for thousands and thousands of years from many
 enlightened masters whether it be Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Lao Tzu, and it's
 also the message that the Dead gave when they first started.
 DG: What was unique about this stuff you got from Jerry?
 WW: Nothing was unique. It was Jerry saying "hey guys, wake up. You still
 aren't doing this." It's a reminder that we're really here to live our lives
 with love and joy.
 DG: Your book includes a lot of reproduced dialogue - words from him and
 words from you in conversation with him. The tone is sort of somber almost,
 and earnest. There's none of that wisecracking and occasional snarkiness that
 Jerry was very capable of- as you know- in life. I'm skeptical about it, I
 have to say. I'm sure a lot of listeners are cause it didn't sound like him.
 WW: There's a reason for that too. Twofold: Jerry's earth personality was
 unique to his earth body. In this first part of the book, I deal with the
 oversoul or his higher self  which is on a higher level, it doesn't have that
 earthiness that we have down here. It's a communication on a much higher
 level. The other thing to be taken into consideration is it comes through me,
 so the communication is received the best as I can. I don't have Jerry's
 quirky, humorous nature. I might not pick up on it in that way.
 DG: So it's more earnest because you're more earnest.
 WW: Yeah
 DG: Wanna take a call?
 WW: Sure.
 DG: Hello caller, you are on the air with WEndy Weir.

 Caller #1: Here's what I'm thinking: Typically when siblings of celebrities,
 like Tom Hanks' brother, Sylvester Stallone's brother, a lot of times you
 catch them trying to cash in on a little bit of fame themselves. This is my
 personal opinion but I think a lot of listeners out there share this opinion.
 I think it's a travesty to Jerry and to Bob and the rest of the Grateful
 Dead.
 DG: If you're going to ask or suggest that, perhaps you might have some idea
 of what the motivation might be. I don't think Wendy needs to 'cash in', if
 cash is what you're talkin about.
 Caller: A little bit of fame, sharing some of the glory.
 WW: I'd be glad to address that, yeah. I honestly have no desire to share in
 the fame and the glory. I really love what I do, which has a lot to do with
 enviornmental education and healing. It's a need that I felt very strongly
 from Spirit to get out there and say this. It's also something I've received
 tremendous response and emails from people saying 'thank you so much for
 speaking about this, that there is truly a spiritual side to the Grateful
 Dead that is not looked at in the press". This is helping bring up things
 that Deadheads understand that a lot of the press doesn't. Do you have any
 comments to that?
 Caller: It's a little kooky and...
 WW: Have you read the book?
 Caller: No, I haven't.
 WW: Okay. Maybe you should take a look at it and see if you still feel its'
 kooky. I can understand that from a concept point of view you might feel it's
 kooky but if you read it you might feel it has some deeper meaning to you.
 Caller: Thanks but no thanks.
 DG: Thanks for calling.

 DG: Hello, you're on the air with Wendy Weir.
 Caller#2:  Hi yeah, I just have a couple questions. Don't you think you're
 putting on a thing to make all Deadheads kinda look bad with all this pseudo-
 cryptic bullshit about Jerry speaking from the grave? I love Jerry, but
 there's a stereotype of Deadhead being drug users and freaks. And I just put
 out for myself a vision that I think most Deadhead would want to be
 associated with. Which isn't ranting and raving about Jerry communicating to
 us through the grave. I think it's disrepectful to us and to Jerry at the
 same time.
 WW: Let me ask you- have you ever felt, in a dream or driving along the road,
 that Jerry said something to you, you felt really good about something?
 Caller: Totally. That's my experience. But I think you're cultivating an
 image for Deadheads which is already out there. It's kinda like this
 California-fruit-and-nut-cake kinda thing-
 DG: That's not her responsibility!
 Caller: I'm not saying it's her responsibility, I'm saying you're on the air
 and putting out an image of Deadheads which is already there, which already
 exists
 WW: I'm putting out an image of me. It's not an image of Deadheads because
 the book is really clear. It's about me and my communications with Jerry. My
 only comment about Deadheads is that there is a tremendous amount of
 spirituality that goes on at the concerts that many many many people have
 confirmed and that I've known over many years.
 Caller: I agree. I think the GD Hour is a great thing. I think whatever they
 choose to do with that time, I respect that. But I'd rather hear them talk
 with the relatives about their relationships or about the music and how it
 affected them than about Jerry speaking to us through the cosmos, through the
 grave...
 DG:  There will be more music and more other kinds of conversation too. You
 know, I'm tryin to cover all the bases here on this program. I've been doing
 it for 15 years and this is the first time I've had a conversation from
 beyond the grave on here. And I think it's worth listening to.
 Caller: Peace.

 DG: Hello, you're on the air with Wendy Weir.
 Caller #3: First , I want to say I've gone to a lot of Dead shows long, long
 ago and I've received a lot of spiritual  healing and awakening through the
 Grateful Dead and I've always really loved and honored Jerry. One thing that
 had troubled me over a real long period of time is his struggle with his drug
 addiction. I wonder if you had anything to say about why had so many hard
 times getting beyond that.
 WW: I can only make a personal comment on that and part of it has to do with
 talking to him 'in the spirit'. He had a really hard time being physical
 because of all the pain experienced here on the earth. He just wasn't able to
 work out a lot of that pain while he was here. That pain relates to watching
 his father die when he was very young, not being able to deal with that
 death. It's either drugs or scuba diving, because he really loved scuba
 diving and being under the water. But that was a way for him not to get
 engaged in the pain.

 Caller #4: First, I feel like it's real important that when we're talking
 about this that we don't allow it to become divisive among Heads. What's real
 important is that we explore this together. We have plenty of room for your
 opinion, ma'am, and for people who have trouble making the leap of faith that
 you're making.  To the other statement, we do need to take a lot more steps
 in the direction you're going, as a people, it's the next step for us and
 it's important to do that in a way that's supportive of peoples' fears and
 worries so that we can get on with the discovery that's there. And then my
 question is: have you thought about talking to John Lennon?
 WW: No, I honestly haven't. I haven't seen it in the stores here but I found
 out there's a book that came out about a month and a half after the Jerry
 book came out that has to do with channeled communication with John Lennon.
 It's over in England right now, I don't know if it's in the US yet.
 Caller: I'm glad you're exploring and youre' willing to share this. I know it
 must be tough on you. All the people who are angry about it , try to calm
 down, ask yourself some questions. We aren't just gonna take it on blanket
 faith, we really want to hear how you do what you do...
 WW: And you do it too. Everyone does it, I'm just telling my story. You guys
 have your own story too and it's just as wonderful.
 DG: One of the things about the GD culture as I've experienced it in the last
 27 1/2 years is acceptance, tolerance, openness to stuff that scares or
 offends you at first. Listen to how people reacted to the introduction of the
 song "Picasso Moon". Came to love it. "Victim Or the Crime" too. Everything
 is controversial or can be controversial when it's fresh or new. Hello,
 your'e on the air with Wendy Weir.

 Caller #5: Hi. I was just thinking, all these people who are criticizing her
 in this negative way, there are a lot of cultures that believe that after the
 death of an important person for themselves that they need to go through a
 psychic process with the spirit of that person and resolve whatever they need
 to resolve for themselves. It sounds like maybe Wendy and Bob needed to go
 through that. I haven't read the book either but maybe all the people who are
 being so negative about it oughta read the book  before they decide against
 it.
 DG: At least go down to the bookstore and leaf through it. I don't  think
 anybody would dispute the upshot of the message that's coming through. You'd
 have to be a pretty unhappy person to vote against peace, love, and light.
 And that's pretty much the upshot of what came down.
 WW: In getting this information, i went through a process of growth in my own
 right that was very hard and the information helped guide me through that.
 What you're saying is correct.
 Caller: I think it's important that people open up to the possibility that
 there is a spiritual realm that we can communicate with. There are enough
 religious ancient traditions that say that there is this realm and at one
 time people were very clearly able to communicate in it.
 WW: So many of us will talk to a dead grandparent or aunt or uncle, someone's
 passed on and you say 'hey, what advice can you give me now?" It's just
 unconsciously basically. It's nothing different that what I'm doing with
 Jerry.
 Caller: I've even read Hopi stories where the dead person comes back and
 they'll have arguments that the dead person never got to finish while alive.
 WW: Yeah, there's a lot of fun stuff out there.
 Caller: And there's Findhorn, where they were communicating with the
 Overspirit of all the plants on the planet
 WW: and the plants there grow incredibly large
 Caller: just go in the bookstore and read the book for 10 minutes if you're
 real negative...
 WW:  I have to say, I'm really pleased that people are speaking out. Whether
 they like the book or not  they're starting to think about it and that's the
 most important thing. That they're opening up their perceptions and they're
 starting to think about it.
 Caller: Well, good luck with your book and your communications. Are you still
 communicating with Jerry?
 WW: Oh yeah. (laughs) As is everybody else, in their own way. Thank you.

 Caller #6: I'm enjoying this conversation. first wanted to wish you L'shana
 Tova. I have not read the book. I think Wendy is on to something. I know that
 those who have passed on leave something here. I am not attached to the body
 at all. I know that the spirit is very strong and obviously a person like
 Jerry Garcia made such an impression on the world- not just California. I
 like what you said about tolerance. Instead of closing ourselves off to these
 emanations people should open themselves up. I know there are different
 levels of perception and I think people should be open to them. The person's
 comment about channeling John Lennon, I don't think Wendy was as close to
 John Lennon as she obviously was  to Jerry. The feelings this discussion is
 very good, very positive. I hope that Wendy doesn't feel attacked by ignorant
 people.
 WW: thank you very much. And no, I don't feel attacked,  I don't feel they're
 ignorant, I just think they haven't looked at various aspects around us and
 hopefully by us talking about this they'll be able to search a broader
 horizon.
 Caller: In this WEstern society, we're taught not to receive  these
 revelations, emanations from people who were once here with us, and I think
 that's very sad.
 WW: And that's very true of our Western society, not of the Native American
 society.
 Caller: Just wanted to put my 2 cents in. Carry on. Thank you.
 WW: Thank you.

 DG: Welcome back to DTTW, my name is David Gans, my guest in the studio is
 Wendy Weir, sister of Bob Weir, co-author of 2 enviornmental education books
 for children which I happen to like very much. Also, the author of a new book
 "In The spirit: Conversations With The Spirit of Jerry Garcia".
 Caller #7: Jay____ here.
 DG: Hi Jay
 Caller: I can't help but notice there's an incredible amount of thunder and
 lightning happening all around the Bay Area. Maybe I've eaten too many
 mushroom cookies but I don't think that's a coincidence. I thinkwhat you're
 sayin there really needs to come out and I'm really glad to be hearing it on
 the program.
 WW: Thank you.
 DG: Is there a question, Jay?
 Caller: there's another BOOM right now.

 Caller #8: So I too totally dig your message. I think that it is important
 and I'm hearing it in different forms. The only thing that I find a little
 distasteful is to claim that it actually is from the spirit that was Jerry
 Garcia. It's  a great message but i think they're your words. They don't
 sound like he sounded, it's not a subject matter that he used. You said that
 there's nothing particularly unique to him about the words. But I feel that
 in some ways, they're great words but you should take responsibility for
 them, take ownership of them.
 WW: I hearing what you're saying, but I didn't sign up for this. It's not me
 sitting down saying 'I'm gonna write this book and say that Jerry said these
 things". Each time, it started with a call from Bob the first time, and I
 did, wrote down the stuff, gave it to Bob, forgot all about it. A week later
 Bob called back and said "hey, how's Jerry doing?" I went in and meditated
 again and that kicked off the first series. Didn't do anything with it, went
 through a lot of my own processing. A year later Bob calls me from the road,
 again saying "Hey, Jerry's trying to come through me. I feel something's up.
 What's going on? Can you check in on him for me?" So this was seriously not
 of my own creation but I listened and tried to participate, got freaked out a
 lot along the way...
 Caller: I think they really ARE your words, and to say that it could be
 modesty or it could be what else. But I think they're definitely from you.
 And anyway I appreciate word getting out any way that it does.
 WW: It is in each and every one of us. So whatever your experiences are is
 fantastic and that's what's important. Not what I say, or what the book says,
 it's what each of us experiences.

 Caller #9: Hi, this is Laney. It is an incredible lightning storm out here by
 the way, most I've seen ever in California. throughout the book, Wendy
 validates herself. I've give the book a lot of thought. I've given it a lot
 of thought. I'd like for Wendy to talk about Jerry dying and using his music
 and the  message to raise the consciousness of the planet.
 WW: The music is something they've been playing since 1965 and in teh book
 there's lyrics by Robert Hunter and music is a critical part of the life
 force and of communication and higher awareness. The message is in the music
 and the band had been playing it all along.
 Caller: For me, since Jerry has died and since Phil hasn't been doing many
 shows, the music has taken on a whole new meaning. And we wouldn't have had
 that if it wasn't for the fact that jerry had died.
 WW: Jerry was aware at the time that he had to pass on. He'd been here a long
 time. the pain was just overwhelming but he loved all the music and he loved
 the people and he loved what he was doing. But for him to accomplish what he
 set out, he really needed to pass on and come back in the spirit and speak to
 all of us in the spirit and let us know that there are other dimensions. It's
 not just our 3 dimensional reality here. There are dimensions beyond that can
 communicate with us, and we can communicate with.
 Caller: I believe there are doors through the music to a higher
 consciousness.
 WW: Yes, very much so. The doors are always there, it's just that maybe we
 aren't ready to hear them yet.
 Caller: Hopefully through Jerry and through you we will get to the point
 where we are ready to hear them and find out what the messages are. If we
 can raise the consciousness of the planet collectively, we should definitely
 go for it.
 WW: Yeah, well, we're just 2 voices. you're a voice, and everyone else is a
 voice, so I keep getting back to the fact that the most important person is
 you. EAch and every one of us. Thank you.

 DG: That's one of the things that Jerry had at the core of his message, that
 he didn't want to be a leader and he didn't want to be responsible for all
 this. One thing that's been evidently clear to me over the years is that the
 only consciousness you can really change is your own and the best way to
 influence people is to set an example.
 WW: Yeah, and the GD music is a great way to begin.
 DG: Indeed. (phone malfunction). Geez, we get hit with lightning and all hell
 broke loose around here.

 Caller  #10: I'm really enjoying the show and the thunder and the lightning.
 DG: Well, we're missing it, good show out there huh?
 WW: Hey everything's for a reason.
 Caller: I have one question. I went to see the Saragossa Manuscript, Jerry's
 favorite movie-
 DG: Oh, yeah!
 Caller: Was it really Jerry's favorite movie? Because I didn't get it.
 WW: I have no comment on that. Do you, David?
 DG: I don't know that it was his favorite movie. I know that he was really
 fond of it. Alan Trist, an old friend of Jerry's who works at GDP wrote a
 story that the Film Archive is circulating about when they went to see it-
 Bob Hunter and Jerry and Alan all went to see it lik 1964 or something. It's
 a hard movie to figure out. It's a story within a story within a story within
 a story. It's extremely difficult to follow and he described itas being an
 influential movie in that it opened him up to the absurdity and the weirdness
 and possibility of excursions. One of my favorite things in the GD is when
 they'd start a song and then they'd start another song and then they'd start
 another song and then they'd come back through those. There were those
 Playing In The Band, Uncle Johns Band, Morning Dew sandwiches from 1974 that
 were just high moments. And in a way that;s a Saragossa Manuscript kind of
 thing. Or in computers, if you're at all into computer programming, the idea
 of nested subroutines is what the Saragossa Manuscript is about. If you
 didn't appreciate it or get it or think it was funny you're certainly not
 alone..

 Caller #11: I have a couple of comments to make. Seems to me that the whole
 notion of whether or not Ms. Weir is, in fact, channeling the spirit of Jerry
 Garcia is one of those unknowable unproveable untestable kind of propositions
 that comes down to a matter of faith. Which I really see happening in the
 book- which I have skimmed- is a religious revisionism as if there had been a
 Jewish or Muslim or Christian revisionism. What I see happening is putting
 Jerry Garcia's life in the realm of Ms. Weir's New Age/Occult religion.
 WW: Religion is not a word I use.
 DG: Religion is not a word that Jerry used either. I brought it up in an
 interview with him once and he just about took my head off. He did not like
 the word 'religion'. I think it's important to remember that all of us
 project our appreciation of what this is all about onto the Grateful Dead and
 other things too. But the Grateful Dead seem to be a particularly potent
 blank screen onto which each of us could project our beliefs and stuff. If
 that's what Wendy's doing, it makes it no less valid that if it were an
 actual, verifiable spiritual communication.
 Caller: Whether or not you use the religion, Wendy, it really is a matter of
 faith. Not everyone believes in channeled being and there's no way to prove
 it either way. I don't happen to share the interpretation. It's all a lot of
 New Age cliche. It's totally different from what Jerry professed in his own
 life and what annoys me is he spent so many years disavowing his role as a
 guru-
 DG: No, man, she's not doing that.  I'm sorry. I was skeptical as hell when I
 read this book and it's not in there. I was led to believe Jerry preaching
 from beyond the grave about renouncing drugs and all that crap. And it's not
 true. There's some stuff in there about drugs but there's no moralizing at
 all there. Now, I'm still skeptical as hell about this book, but I'll tellya
 something else. A book Jerry recommended to me and Blair Jackson in an
 interview we did in 1981 was called "Spear of Destiny" by Trevor Ravenscroft.
 And there's this fantastical book about this spear that was used to pierce
 the side of jesus on the cross, and how it became this hugely significant
 object and kings and emporers coveted it and stole it and spirited it across
 borders and all this stuff. It was a fascinating book when I finally got a
 copy of it. And there's this whole thing of Hitler's belief of the occult and
 all this stuff that goes on in this astral plane. All I'm sayin is Jerry was
 skeptical and cynical and a wise ass but he also seemed willing to evaluate
 and examine almost anything.
 Caller: True, but he never referred to anybody as "little one" and he never
 rambled off about chakras and light and energy. Which, if you want to believe
 in that in that way, that's fine. But it really is a New Age occult type of
 religion.
 WW: Well, I want to address that. New Age is a word that I really dislike.
 When we're talking about chakras and things like that, they've been around
 for thousands and thousands and thousands of years. Youre speaking from a
 Western, North American viewpoint and not one that is embraced by the
 majority of the world. New Age is actually very very Old Age.
 DG: Chakras are a thousands-of-years-old concept.
 Caller: But it's an unprovable concept.
 WW: No, it's proveable.
 Caller: Wendy,that's debatable. Why are there so many debates on the
 locations and the colors of the chakras. It's obviously a concept, a belief.
 We're not talking about a physical reality like atoms or electrons here,
 let's face it.
 DG: There are some who think that Scientism is just another theory, yknow. Go
 to Kansas and talk to the school board.  (laughter)
 Caller: Look at the radio you're broadcasting on now-
 DG "How does that happen??!!"
 Caller: that's made possible through the scientific method. You can believe
 in it or not but the results are right here.
 WW: And they use crystals! (laughter)
 Caller: They use crystals in a very different way than you do.
 DG: Thank you, man.

 Caller #12: I have a question. If you're not in this for the money and you
 want to share what Jerry has to say from the grave, what message did he have
 that he had to contact you about?
 WW: He contacted me because we have a close relationship, a friendship..
 Caller: And he approved of you writing this book?
 WW: Yeah, because he was-- once again, I'm speaking for myself, I want to be
 very very clear. I felt very strongly and I still feel very strongly he is
 very much involved in this, he is very much a part of my life still on a
 spirit basis. The message he wanted to get out was the one the band started
 with in the mid 60s, which is one about Love and Joy and Peace and we're all
 One. It's a message that has gotten quite lost over the past 35 years. Part
 of that can be seen with the Deadheads who were attending the concerts before
 Jerry's passing. Rioting, accidents, it wasn't what the Dead was all about.
 The reminder was for the people who weren't there in the 60s to say hey, it's
 the 60s again, it's Love, Joy, Oneness, it's peace. We're one world, let's do
 something about it.
 Caller: And he had to wait until he passed on to bring that message through
 you?
 WW: No, he's been trying to do it as has the band all along. It's the
 audience that hasn't been willing to hear it lately.
 DG: He didn't do much preaching from the stage, that's for damn sure.
 Caller: It's very interesting. I'm skeptical .  Here's a man who chose to
 have his ashes scattered over the Ganges River and not have a memorial place
 where people can go and gather and here's this book out of nowhere, it seems
 very unlike.....What about Pigpen, does he say anything to you, or any of the
 other members who've.....
 WW: No that's not what this is about, this is just the relationship...
 Caller: They're part of the family..
 WW: yeah, they are, but it's not a message that's being conveyed to me. This
 is strictly about the communications with Jerry after passing on.
 Caller: well, I'm glad somebody's spreading the word.
 WW: I'm saying this is what my experience is and I'm asking everyone to think
 about their own. As I said before, so many people have said thanks for
 writing this book, it's helped them and reminded them to look at things that
 have been important in their own lives. That's the objective, whether you
 believe it or not, That's the issue: hey, think about this. And everyone
 who's called in has been thinking about this. That's the greatest gift of
 all.


 Caller #13: I'm curious, Wendy, about the illustrations in the book. The one
 of you and Jerry together. Perhaps you could explain the relationship-- was
 it you served as a channeler?
 WW: My place with Jerry was strictly as a friend and Bob's sister and being
 around since I was 14 years old with the guys.
 Caller: No, I mean within the context of the book. And how you called upon
 him, or how he came to you. Was it a channeler relationship, or how would you
 define it?The friendship stays. Just because he's passed on and is now in the
 spirit doesn't mean that the friendship changes at all. the relationship is
 always there. The love Jerry had for everybody is still there.
 Caller: No, I mean as far as the book goes, do you take a subordinate
 position to Jerry's Oversoul?
 WW: No, I take a communicative. It's like talking friend to friend. To put it
 into words, it's a telepathic communication that I do write down but it's a
 conversation that we have as equals.
 Caller: I find it interesting that there's the illustration of you and the
 illustration of Jerry side by side, as if....you said earlier you weren't
 trying to capitalize on anything and I'm not making a judgement one way or
 the other. I just think it's interesting that you all are on the same plane.
 It's just the 2 of you there. Perhaps you could speak to the idea behind the
 illustration?
 WW: Primarily it's just a way to graphically represent Jerry. That's a
 backstage photo, so it's taken from an actual photo which my artwork is taken
 from photos or from my own creation.
 Caller: I didn't see anything about that in the book..
 WW: What? That it was taken from a backstage photo?
 Caller: Right. That it was an artist's rendering of an actual photograph.
 WW: No, because I was the artist. So I didn't feel I needed to make a
 statement as to where it came from.
 Caller: thanks a lot and keep playin the music.
 DG: Thanks for calling.

 Caller #14: Matters of the spirit and oneness and a lot of things I think the
 GD are and were about are nearly impossible to express in words. I think
 words are very clumsy. People should use the same kind of leap of heart to
 understand what you're saying as they do to, say, to understand a
 particularly difficult Grateful Dead song.
 WW: Great, that's beautifully said. Thank you.

 Caller #15: I've been listening to this question-and-answer session for the
 last hour or so, it's been most intriguing. I am from India but have been
 living here for awhile. Contrary to Ms. Weir's claim that things about
 chakras are thousands of years old, that really is not the case at all.  I'm
 not aware of any scientific proof of chakras and whatnot. Also, contrary to
 what's held about philosophy and philosophers from India, it not the case
 that they don't use reason in their inquiries. If those philosophers were to
 listen to this, pardon my expression, this kind of mush, they'd just laugh
 you out of court. That's all I wanted to say.
 WW: Thank you.
 DG: Do you want to respond?
 WW: No. Because the chakras are definitely, those words do derive from India,
 they have been around for thousands of years and they have been
 scientifically tested as energy vortices.


 DG: Before we take the next call, Wendy, I want you to talk about the 2 books
 you did with Bob, which are wonderful books. Sort of enviornmental education
 books for kids and your other enviornmental work. Please talk about that.
 WW: In 1991, Bob and I did a book called Panther Dream. It's a children's
 book, has to do with the African rain forest, it's a conservation message not
 only an education message. Unfortunately, both the childrens' book have just
 gone out of print. I'm responding to David's look at me like "Really?!"

 The 2nd one is Baru Bay which is about coral reefs in Australia and deals
 with the Aboriginal people. Bob and I stayed in an Aboriginal community for 4
 or 5 days back in 1992, which definitely impacted our lives. It was an
 incredible experience.
 DG: GDP might still have some...
 WW: GDP is out of Panther Dreams, they might still have some copies of Baru
 Bay. Reef Relief still has some copies of Baru Bay there and you can reach
 them at www.reefrelief.com so check in on the website and they have that on
 their merchandise page.
 DG: Speaking of which, lets give the web address for in-the-spirit.com
 WW: Yeah, the Web address is www.in-the-spirit.com. You can reach me directly
 through the website.
 DG: And what is this MusicBox project?
 WW: yeah, I wanted to tell people about it. It's sort of along the same lines
 as the Grateful Dead are about. It's a parallel course. It's a new project
 I'm working on with an old friend of mine from UC Berkeley days. Jon Corshen
 and I graduated from UC Berkeley way back when. This has to do with shifting
 the distribution paradigm on music, the avenues, and it's bringing the artist
 and the audience directly together. It's a direct link. It's a parallel
 development with what the Dead have been all about. The Dead are champions of
 having the artist's music go directly to their audience, whether it be
 through taping or whether it be on the net.
 DG: So what kind of music are you dealing with?
 WW: All kinds of music. It's all feel-good music, it's positive, uplifting,
 there's gonna be stuff by Jerry and stuff by the Dead on there. It's actually
 dealing with music videos and it will be on television with a remote control
 and as long as you have a tv, the MusicBox remote control, and a telephone
 line you'll be able to participate. There's also a strong message with it
 because part of the proceeds will go back into the community and into the
 enviornment.
 DG: Do you have a web address for that too?
 WW: [e-mail] or me, [e-mail]. But that's up and coming so
 look for it.
 DG: We'll tell you more about that as we find out more about it...okay, let's
 take another call.

 Caller #16: I wanted to thank and congratulate you for putting yourself out
 there like this.
 WW: thank you.
 Caller: I do things that you probably just told everyone about. I'd get the
 same kind of flak I hear you getting.
 WW: Flak can be fun sometimes...
 Caller: Did you learn telepathy spontaneously or did you....?
 WW: No, I actually read a book and followed directions
 Caller: What is that book?
 WW: It's not in print at this point so I'm not even gonna say. What I do
 recommend is go to a bookstore and check it out.
 DG: I think Gaia Books here in Berkeley would be a good place to start.
 WW: Don't take it too seriously. Just have fun with it.
 Caller: I'm diggin it
 WW: Thanks for calling.

 Caller #17: Yeah, i've got a question for the psychic.
 WW: Well, I don't consider myself a psychic but I'll answer....I presume
 you're addressing me
 Caller: Braves or Green Bay, what do you think?
 WW: (laughs) that's not my category.
 DG: Next!

 Caller #18: The hardest thing about music is talking about it. The hardest
 thing about death is talking about it, too. Just like the Dead, it's a multi-
 dimensional experience. I'd like to extend a quote "There is no death but a
 succession of experiences whereby the soul may elect to become more of its
 own central sun  or to squander the light of that central sun and watch the
 diminishing of life (inaudible)"
 WW: Where is the quote from?
 Caller: Elizabeth Clare Prophet
 WW: Great. Thanks for sharing that with us.

 Caller #19: Hi David, this is Evy, how are you?
 DG: Hi Evy
 Caller: I'm calling cause, I don't know if anyone's discussed this already,
 but it's interesting when we look at history at the point when women become
 channelers.  the women who do that and why. It's fascinating to me, because
 often they seem to be, culturally, when women may not be empowered, or within
 a culture where women may not be empowered to speak with their own voice. And
 suddenly voices begin to speak through them. And I'm just interested in, in
 terms of the role and place of women in Grateful Dead culture, and the
 ability of women to speak powerfully about the kinds of things that Jerry's
 talking about within Grateful Dead culture.
 WW: I have nothing to say to that. That's a wonderful viewpoint. I have no
 comment.
 Caller: You look at the spiritualists, it's the same thing. and it's always
 great when women, when people speak through women it's great, and it's also
 wonderful when women speak directly in their own voice.
 WW: I agree with that fully. I do.
 DG: The Grateful Dead culture is a very manly one, certainly the internal
 culture that they...
 WW: I wasn't gonna say that (laughter)
 DG: Well, I ain't afraid to say it. And it's been hard to find feminine
 energy in that world. In the office there were women but on the road there
 were not very many women and I think it might've been a tough time for some
 of them. I've spent some time with Candace Brightman
 WW: who does the lighting...
  DG:...over the years and watch how that stuff goes, so I think Evy raises
 an interesting question
 WW: I just find it safer not to say anything right now. (both laugh)

 Caller #20: I'd like to comment about the scientific gate-crashers who have
 unconsciouly proved Jerry point about "they need to get it".
 WW: Okay
 Caller: They need to keep on truckin cuz it aint no lie
 WW: Oh hey, thank you
 Caller: You're welcome

 Caller #21: Hi Wendy, I'd just like to ask one question. I'd like to know
 your beliefs as far as channeling and whatnot, how they relate to
 reincarnation?
 WW: I definitely believe in reincarnation because, first of all, the spirit
 is eternal, we do come down into physical expression whether it be here on
 earth or in other dimensions in order to learn and to grow. Reincarnation is
 an aspect of our growth. It doesn't have to be here on earth but we do come
 into form on many levels.
 Caller: The logical conclusion from that- my next question would be: when one
 is communicating with spirits, would it not be possible that the spirit would
 already be reincarnated into a new form and therefore can you still
 communicate with them, or with their higher spirit in that other form?
 WW: Yes. Because consciousness is unlimited.
 Caller: So it'squite possible that Jerry, or other people who live and die,
 have already taken other forms. So it's possible to still communicate with
 them.
 WW:Yes. It's possible Jerry wasn't just Jerry here on earth, maybe there were
 3 others of him scattered around the world in other lives and experiences.
 Caller: Interesting.
 WW: Consciousness is unlimited. It's only us here who put limitations on it.
 Caller: You have a lot of courage for putting yourself out there.
 WW: Well, thank you. And thank you also for expressing your views.

 Caller #22: I've got a question for Wendy. Has Jerry asked anything about his
 daughters or about Mountain Girl or anything?
 WW: No, that hasn't been part of our conversation.
 Caller: Why you, and not Mountain Girl, anybody closer to him?
 WW: I dunno. You'd have to ask him.
 Caller: Ask HIM?
 WW: Uh huh.
 Caller: Can you ask him?
 WW: (chuckling) I talk to him all the time and we have our own conversations
 but your question should be directed to him.
 Caller: Okay, I got one more question for you.
 WW: Okay.
 Caller: Earlier, you were talking about the spirit of the GD and whatnot. I'm
 curious, is the spirit of the GD to capitalize on a dead man and put words in
 a dead man's mouth?
 WW: No. We aren't talking about the spirit of the GD. The GD do what the GD
 do.  What I'm talking about here is my own experience that I"ve written down
 so don't attribute what I say to the GD. Don't attribute my experience to the
 GD as a band.
 Caller: Okay, well thank you.
 DG: Thanks for calling in.

 Caller #23: Hi again. Thanks for taking my call. I have a feeling i want to
 share with you all. its that part of me says Jerry, in order to move on in
 his spiritual development from where he is now, needs us all to stop
 obsessing about him somewhat. Because, in a sense, we're holding him here. I
 don't mean let go our love and our love for each other and him. I mean just
 going over and over him too much cuz he's gotta move on to whatever's next
 for him. And if we're doing too much of that, it becomes too attractive for
 his spirit to stay here in this earthly realm and there are higher realms he
 has to get to.
 WW: Yes. That's very true.  And I also feel that when Jerry's ready to move
 on, he will. But right now there's a lot of stuff he wishes to accomplish and
 there's a lot of love between him and the Deadheads and the folks here.
 Caller: I don't wanna be too attached in my love for him and you and what
 we're all doing together.
 WW: yeah, I mean love is universal . You can certainly love and love doesn't
 mean that attachment keeping the spirit here. But definitely love.

 Caller #24: I got to listen to the first part of your interview on my drive
 home. I appreciate your courage in bringing for the transmissions you've
 received. People have spoken from some closed minds and haven't been willing
 to open themselves to the possibility of this sort of communication. You're a
 courageous people to open yourself and allow Jerry to speak through you.
 WW: thank youvery much. Jerry speaks through everybody. I just happen to have
 written stuff down and published it as a way of introducing him to a lot of
 other folks. Jerry probably speaks through you. He speaks in many many ways.
 He speaks in dreams, and through the music, and in your subconscious. He's
 quite an articulate individual.
 Caller: Amen to that. It's the universal spirit speaking through us all.
 WW: Yeah. Thanks.

 Caller #25: I was calling because, like some of the more recent callers, I
 was concerned about the level of ignorance from a couple of the early
 callers.I've been involved deeply in my life in mysticism for over 25 yrs.
 and i've been a borderline Deadhead. I've skimmed through Ms. Weir's book. I
 want to say that while we each can have subjective experiences that validate
 the reality of spirit, there's from the scientific community from the
 rational mind to doubt it sometimes. If people would just educate themselves,
 go on the internet, go into a library, a metaphysical bookstore., they could
 make some progress. Not rationally or otherwise but the foundation for making
 an assessment isnt' thorough the rational mind at all. As they say in the
 spiritual traditions, it's done from the standpoint of doing meditation and
 doing it regularly. Get quiet inside. That's the testing ground for it. the
 work you're doing is wonderful. There are a lot of other people out there
 doing similar work and I think that people should keep an open mind and not
 worry about what your motives are.
 WW: Great. Thanks so much.
 Caller: Have you done research around the Tibetan version of what happens to
 human souls when they've passed on in what they call the 'bardo'? The
 intermittent ground, some people might refer to it as purgatory. Do you feel
 that there's a temporary reality like that?
 WW: Im familiar with it. I am not tibetan Buddhist so I can only speak from
 my experience. I would correlate the bardo with the astral level. Yes, those
 experiences that are perceived in the bardo I do believe exist.
 Caller: thank you.

 Caller #26: One question off the beaten path- how is Bob handling fatherhood
 and how does he like it?
 WW: That's easy.He loves being a father. he says it's the next best thing,
 well, I shouldn't say next best thing, it's equally joyful as music. He's a
 wonderful father and the baby's just fantastic.
 Caller:  Great, glad to hear that. thank you.

 Caller #27: Is Bob giving his support to your project on this book?
 WW: He's been very supportive of it. He's not going to speak out in any way
 about it. But he's sort of been with me through this whole process over the
 years.  So he's very familiar with what's going on.
 Caller: He's one of the people I'd imagine had a very intimate relationship
 with Jerry.
 WW: Yes, he does.
 Caller: I can't speak for Bob, but I'd think that if your project would in
 any way harm Jerry's image that he would at least have something to say about
 it.
 WW: Oh believe me, he'd tell me. yeah. Just as a sign of Bob's feeling about
 it, he's the one who asked me originally to check in on Jerry for him so that
 sort of establishes the basis for our relationship in that regard. '
 Caller: And the communication that Jerry has with you-- do those
 communications describe to Bob Jerry as Bob knows him?
 WW: I can't answer that. Only Bob can answer that. Bob definitely hears the
 communications as coming through me. And Jerry communicates through Bob in
 many other ways, too. As he does with the other band members. He communicates
 through music that they play.
 Caller: Thank you for answering my question.

 DG: It's been a very interesting couple of hours and I want to thank you,
 Wendy, for stepping up  to the plate and takin all this input.
 WW: My pleasure, I'm very glad to be here
 DG: It's a very interesting book. I think it's worth checkin out, everybody.
 Takes a little getting used to but there's some stuff in here that's worth
 checking out.
 WW: Yeah, and listen to the music