Friday, March 7, 2008 Linking to the beyond Local psychic Irma Slage to host séance at the Pleasanton Hotel by Emily Atwood Pleasanton Weekly Staff Irma Slage at Pleasanton Hotel seance. Sometimes spirits can be photographed, like this one, in the form of orbs. Irma Slage considers herself to be a human telephone--connecting the living to departed spirits. It all began one day when she was cleaning the bathroom. Then in her 20s and newly married to Ted Slage, she saw her friend Rose standing in the room, speaking to her. "I could see her completely as I could see my own hand," she said. "It was very clear, but I didn't try to touch her." Irma later found that Rose had died that day. In that moment, Irma realized that the voices she had heard in her head, such as telling her where to look for a lost item, were something more and something everyone heard. "It completely changed my life," she said. "I was never the same again." Some 30 years later, Irma and Ted Slage live in Livermore and have grown accustomed to daily, extraordinary occurrences. The couple tries to take it easy, especially if it means they can spend time with their grandchildren, but the demand for her talent makes it difficult. She is frequently contacted by people from all over the world, wanting to learn more. Ted Slage's belief has grown over time as he has witnessed Irma's interactions with spirits. Although his wife's gift hasn't rubbed off, he has been a part of it. "My brother was 20 years older than I am and died about three years ago. He was a heavy smoker," he said. "I was lying in bed with Irma and I smelled the smoke of cigarettes, and we don't smoke. I asked Irma what it was, and found out it was my brother [in the room]." Irma has the ability to speak with any person or pet as if she were calling them on the phone. "I can call anyone at any time; if I want to talk with my mom or someone who just died and needed my help," she said. They can also approach her, which she doesn't mind--as long as she's not sleeping. One time, she woke up early in the morning when she sensed a crowd of people needing help. The overwhelming number of voices was too much and she asked for a representative. "I felt a man come towards me," she said. "He was wearing a three-piece suit that didn't have one wrinkle and there was no hair on his face. He said to me, 'We need help. All of us can't find where we have to go. Can you help us?'" The date was Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, which she hadn't heard about at the time. She then called on a man she calls her spirit guide who led them into a wall that she saw open up. She watched 75 to 100 people go out of the room and into what she called "the light," similar to what people say they see when they die. The businessman later appeared to her, this time wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and thanked her for her help. In her book "Phases of Life After Death," Irma writes what happens after death and how it relates to life on Earth. She also speaks to Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Roy Orbison, learning more about their lives and their tragic deaths. "We still have people call us, saying they felt depressed so they go back to her book and it makes them feel really good," Ted Slage said. "It's always nice to hear." Irma will share her gift at a séance in the Pleasanton Hotel at 7 p.m. next Wednesday. Yet instead of darkness and candles, there will be wine and cheese with the lights on. She will get names from people important to the hotel and the area that have passed on. "There's a mob guy who started [the hotel] way back when," she said of the spirits in the hotel. "There are people who are still in the little area next to the bar." She added that people shouldn't be afraid of ghosts. When they come to her they often just need help. "People just stay because they feel comfortable and want to be with their loved ones at parties, births even deaths," she said. "It's not necessarily unfinished business, it's unfinished love." No one in her family has had this gift so she's not sure why she is one of the few to be granted a direct connection to the dead. Whether it's connecting people with their loved ones or Pleasanton residents beyond the grave, she believes she was granted this gift to learn and grow. "We grow with our experiences and with this gift, I grow much quicker," she said. "I can feel for other people and I have their experiences too." To learn more about Irma, visit www.irmaslage.com. Tickets are $25 for seances at the Pleasanton Hotel, 855 Main St. Call 846-8106.

Spirit Scripting

Phases