This time around we had a newfound sense of spirit: we knew a little more about auras but were eager to learn more. With graduation less than a week away and life as we know it about to completely change, we wanted to see how much senior year had impacted us and hopefully learn what to do next. Sometimes stressing about jobs leads you down unexpected paths.

This time, we received clearance — via a relatively cryptic text from Jim — to bring along The State News’ multimedia editor and our dear friend, Brendan Mullin. This also meant we had to confess to Jim that we were writing a story for "the school paper," something we neglected to mention a year ago. We were ready to meet our fate (and have it documented in more ways than one). 

In the car on the way to Parma, we made a game plan: this time, we’d try to volunteer more personal information. Last year, Jim had asked a series of questions we weren't sure were rhetorical or not. This time we would take a little more agency over the process. 

After nearly an hour in the car — during which Brendan confessed he thought we were going to the Meridian Mall in Okemos — we arrived back where this all began: a small house on Eerie Road. Though we had been here before, we waited a few minutes before getting out of the car. No matter how many times you get your aura photographed and analyzed, it's still a little nerve-racking. 

Just like last time, Jim greeted us at the door. Despite us having been here exactly one year ago, the kitchen and living room had been fully renovated, along with the basement after a mouse chewed through wire to somehow cause a flood.

We gathered in the now rearranged room. No worries — Jim’s huge zebra painting was still there, as was the familiar setup of photography equipment, the palm scanner and a bookcase riddled with essential oils and self-published works. 

Despite the rearranged furniture, we still found ourselves touching knees. We're beginning to think sitting close together might just be part of the procedure. Brendan declined a chair.

As we settled in, wide-eyed and riddled with spring allergies, the nerves faded quickly. Jim didn’t have to explain too much – we had already decided PJ was going first, knew where to stand and place our palms, and our personal information still lived in the aura reading system. We jumped right in.

After the photos, Jim told both of us our auras have moved in tandem from orange to yellow, indicating deep growth. We had both changed ... in almost identical ways. A year later, we’re still birds of a feather, peas in a pod. We knew this, Jim, but thank you for the reassurance.

He didn’t dive into our auras, chakras and personalities as much as last time. While we did learn that a yellow personality is optimistic and joyful and is the "brightest, happiest and most childlike personality on the color spectrum," we also had a long, one-sided conversation about Hitler and serial killers for what felt like 30 minutes.

"They all have love in their hearts, too," Jim said.

Needless to say, this reading experience was different. 

PJ’s perspective 

It felt good taking my photo again. I was comfortable, familiar with the blackboard behind me. Though I don’t love how I look in my photograph, it’s easily better than many yearbook photos I’ve taken.

I didn’t know what color I expected to show up. But when Jim told me my aura was yellow, and it changed from orange because I had "grown and developed" through this last year, I quietly agreed. I was working new jobs, my house was destroyed by a flood (right there with you, Jim) and I’m getting ready to head to Ireland right after school, followed by moving to New York City for an indefinite time, then Austria for a journalism seminar. I agree that I’ve grown a lot, but I’m looking forward to more growth on my next journey: discovering myself post-graduation.

My crown chakra is still wide open, which is my connection to "the Creator." According to Jim, I understand my intuition, I hear it and see it, but I don’t always follow it, which I need to work on. 

"Don’t always follow the norm," Jim said.

My throat chakra is correlated to my communication with myself and others. Self-talk is crucial, and Jim said I shouldn’t beat myself up. This was similar to last year’s reading when he brought up the fact that I tend to be negative toward myself, which was true a year ago and still is.

Thankfully my heart chakra has grown in a year. This chakra communicates between the three lower chakras (Earth-bound) and upper ones (spiritual), to hopefully keep me balanced. Jim explained that being more vulnerable helps the Heart chakra grow — it helps me grow.

My sacral chakra deals with intimacy, connection and creativity. As I’m in a transitional period right now — moving, graduating, looking for jobs — Jim said my sacral chakra will be important when developing intimate, closer relationships with people who will stick around in my life, since it deals with intuition.

Apparently I’ve made a big shift: my core is now yellow, which was wild to hear because the core is the hardest shift to make. Having a yellow aura means that I’m joyful and optimistic, which I was glad to hear from Jim.

"That means you’ve been doing some work," Jim said. "You’ve been doing something different."

As I flipped through the 15-page packet Jim gave us again, I found the numbers 153 219 scribbled randomly on the back of one page. Right now, I have no connection to that string of numbers, but I understand — from Jim, from myself, maybe the Creator (that I don’t believe in) — that these numbers will be important to me in the future. I’m unsure where I’ll see them — a plane ticket confirmation number, a license plate, a future address — or if I will ever see them. The trick is to not pay too much attention or try too hard to find it; it’ll come to me.

"You have to be careful of what you’re allowing to influence your life," Jim said.

Roughly 40 minutes into our meeting, while Jim was talking to Claire about her aura, Jim stopped midway through a sentence and stared at me for an uncomfortably long moment. He then laughed for a couple of seconds, rolled back in his chair and uttered:

"Your energy just erupted."

Jim, I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t know my energy could do that.

My center personality is joyful and optimistic. It’s how others see me and oftentimes how I see myself, which is true. The packet revealed that my mental state is intelligent and analytical: I lean into my logical side with my thoughts. It’s not ideal when I’m trying to follow my intuition, however, because my current mental state tries to dissect everything.

Jim said I need to start allowing more stuff to happen to me, follow my intuition and let things happen, since my higher dimension energy is "leading me where I want to be." Okay, Jim, I got this!

"You just need to step towards it, and it’s going to come," Jim said. "The door is open but you’re not stepping through it."

It was around this time when I sometimes zoned out of intently watching Jim and instead looked at the room’s accessories. I felt the zebra’s eyes on me; I tried reading the title of every single self-help and tarot explanation book; I looked at the pictures and paintings scattered around. Some may call me nosey, but the aura scanner called me analytical.

Then, he started talking about Hitler and serial killers.

He said he studied them, learning much information about them, their backgrounds, and why they operated. His fascination had even led him to name a virtual hockey team’s entire roster after serial killers. 

Thank god we had already been in his house once before, or else we probably would have left right then and there. Me, Claire and Brendan all glanced around at each other. Oh, sure, let’s bring up Hitler!

In short, he was trying to teach us about empathy — explaining the very basic, though very important, need to consider "what happened to someone to make them this way."

Jim explained that I’m passionate: I experience a lot of emotions, but I can’t let anger flourish and spearhead how I feel. It’s not productive and won’t lead to any good. But I also can’t suppress my emotions. I need to work on expressing my thoughts with others better, speaking up for myself, and letting my emotions guide certain conversations in an effective way — be a full yellow aura.

"We’re masters at putting masks on," he said. "We’re masters of suppressing."

Jim went through my packet pretty quickly. There wasn’t an elongated monologue like last time, and he didn’t ask me as many rhetorical questions as last year — he talked at me more this time. I was fine with it because he took the time that would’ve been dedicated to me, to instead talk about himself. If it weren’t for him brushing over only the important chakra points, then all three of us wouldn’t have known that his family lives near Detroit but he “doesn’t love it out there,” or that he’s had strange encounters with people in his church over the years. At that moment I thought about requesting his email so I just asked him questions about his intriguing past. Maybe I’ll just schedule another aura appointment in a year. 

The packet gave me possible careers: athlete, comedian, personal fitness trainer and mechanic. Unfortunately, I’m not a five-star athlete, I’d rather die than be a personal fitness trainer and I know nothing about cars. Maybe I’ll give stand-up a shot in between sending my resume to other jobs.

In the meantime, I’m going to use this packet to fuel my future. Every so often I’ll think about both aura experiences, driving to Parma and listening back to Jim talk about my energy. Eventually, I’ll get nostalgic about these trips; I can imagine myself in Austria presenting about local media and its value to democracy, but in the back of my mind I’ll remember everything Jim said, even the parts about serial killers and Hitler.

Claire’s perspective 

"Okay, I’m going to have you take a few deep breaths. I can see that you’re really nervous."

Oh, great. 

I struggled through three long breaths (thank you, spring allergies) and smiled politely. And then, just like last time, I warily placed my hand on the scanner – still warm from PJ’s. Just like PJ, I waited my 20 seconds, grinned for my photo and took my seat. 

Like we said, our auras are yellow now. I say 'our' because it’s becoming apparent to me that PJ and I really are birds of a feather. The thing is, my picture indicates more of a green tint above my head. But you don’t get the nickname "peas in a pod" by accident. Yellow it is.

(There is one paragraph in my packet discussing this green tinge. Apparently I’m a good friend and "natural healer." Somehow this also means I am prone to feelings of resentment and jealousy. Moving on.) 

Apparently, PJ and I are "easy-going souls" with a "wonderful sense of humor." I’ll take it. We’re also creative, intelligent and measure life by feelings of happiness rather than productivity. Apparently yellows also have a childlike spirit. Maybe this was why Jim motioned his hand over my picture and said "there’s a lot of inner child stuff going on" with nothing more but a knowing glance.

Jim didn't spend as much time with my packet as last time either. Perhaps he figured PJ and I were seasoned enough to explore it on our own time. I did learn that my mental state is social, and my crown chakra is entirely open — though there are some signs of blockage or disbelief. I’m not fully surrendering to something, Jim said, although I’m skeptical. He said this could relate to religion, perceptions of god, or even psychics. 

My next highest chakra is the solar plexus — which corresponds to personal power, creative and intellectual thoughts. Everything else appears to be vibrating in the middle. I was reminded my heart has grown but is still guarded — with little to no explanation or advice on how to un-guard it — and that my aura was still really jumping out, even though the packet reported it’s of average size. 

Jim asked me if I was into numerology — angel numbers and the like. While I wasn’t planning on lying, what happened next affirmed to me that I could not. 

Before I had the chance to answer, Jim paused suddenly. For those that remember last time’s experience, Jim took a similar pause during which I recall thinking he was going to throw up. 

Was I doing something wrong? 

He broke the hundred-yard stare and moment of silence, reporting that he felt a "strong energy" right after asking me that. In his words, he would "not pass out … but it made (him) feel a little woozy, a little wonky." Nobody said anything. I considered what the three of us would do if my aura power did cause this man to faint. 

Continuing conversation as best I could, it was then that I had to tell him that I do see one single angel number frequently — but it’s 9:11 on the clock which obviously isn’t super fun to talk about. 

And then, seemingly out of nowhere again: "Do you read people's minds?"

Some conversations don’t need segues, I suppose. 

In hindsight, I should have been a little more put off. "No, not purposely," I said.

This was around when he told me I was psychic. You read that right. Apparently it’s "really easy" for me to connect with a "psychic, higher-self reading."

"You can suppress them and you can shut them off if you want, but it’s a beautiful gift," Jim said. He let me know that I "wouldn't have (this ability) so freely if you weren’t supposed to use it."

"And there’s places you can go to hone that if you want to," he said. 

It was going to be hard for him to top that news, but he continued nonetheless. Apparently my heart chakra is still guarded — caused by some kind of unnamed "big wound."

"Forgiveness is one of the most simple things in the world to do, but also one of the hardest," he said. You might remember that last year he told me there was much I needed to let go of. 

Once again, he encouraged me to write down my values, affirming that I was in a "gigantic" period of transition, and that self care would be important to me. I agreed with this — earlier this academic year I had to take a step back from school to focus on my mental and physical health, a month-long journey that resulted in me nearly entirely reframing my relationship to self care.

It appeared my overpowering silence kept interrupting him. My energy really seemed to disrupt his trains of thought. As he continued glossing over my other chakra levels — which vibrate in the middle and report a pretty average energy level across the rest of the board — he paused again and shook his head. 

"I’m trying like hell not to like, psychically read you … but it is so overpowering it is unbelievable. Your spirit is wanting to talk."

After a while, these comments almost made me feel bad. Was he trying to tell me I like attention? Perhaps I would’ve been less alarmed if he elaborated on any of these sudden, loaded claims. 

He continued this by periodically half-claiming, half-asking things like "is there depression in your family?" and telling me I can be a bit of a perfectionist in some respects, always putting pressure on myself to be high achieving — which can come from parents who do the same thing to themselves. Both of my parents are high-achieving eldest children themselves, but I wouldn’t agree that "depression is a learned behavior" or that my family is "money hungry" — two other things he said out of nowhere. 

Jim followed this cute family "history" by telling me I’m in the business of "asking the questions" and "not listening for the answers." There are, apparently, more creative ways to tell someone they are stubborn. 

"Answers freak you out, don’t they?" Once again, unsure if I should answer, I laughed uncomfortably and half-nodded. At first, I felt defensive. I was here, wasn’t I? I was clearly looking for some sort of answer, right? 

I guess he’s right. While I am an avid journaler, constantly trying to apply emotional logic to situations and "figure out" why things happened, it might not be enough. Performative belief, driving to Parma and sweating all over a palm reader, didn’t seem to be enough either. 

I needed to believe like my inner child.

He somehow went from flipping through my packet to talking about Hitler and the empathy we need to give to serial killers, to family trauma, and then asking Brendan if he would ever want his aura photographed — matter-of-factly saying he’d be an "easy read."

I leafed through the rest of my packet back at home. The career section of these, I’m noticing, is full of variety. Yellow personalities could be a writer, a cook, massage therapist, flight attendant, mechanic, comedian, or computer engineer. So, anything, really.

And, much like last year’s reading, it was recommended I practice Tai Chi. 

My packet did say that those with a yellow aura are more focused on "enjoying" rather than "accomplishing" and they "inherently know how to accept whatever is happening in their lives." I thought I was a perfectionist, but would rather claim this definition. 

According to the packet, "a yellow energy never lies." Personally, I do pride myself on not being a liar. I mean, as Jim called out immediately, I’m far too nervous to try anyway. 

I also learned "yellow personalities may have a fear of relationships" and a "deep seeded fear of commitment." Sounds … joyful and optimistic. We also might "run away" from our responsibilities.

While this check-up was enlightening for many new reasons (i.e. watching Brendan’s reactions to everything and being told I should be tapping into my psychic abilities) I will admit that this experience did not exactly match the energy — no pun intended — of that first session. 

A few things were a little contradictory as well. I walked away not knowing if my energy was overpowering, or if I was too guarded. Am I optimistic like yellow personalities claim to be, or am I too disbelieving in all of this like Jim said? I thought I was nervous, how could my energy be so powerful as to make a grown man feel like he might "pass out?" Maybe time will tell. Maybe this is good practice on asking questions and actually listening for the answers. 

Brendan "You’d be an easy read" Mullin’s perspective 

As a photojournalist, I’m used to being on the outside of a community, event, etc., and looking in. It’s very unusual for me when I am roped into the unfolding of a story like this one. The room was small and the topics were personal. It is hard to stay completely separate from three "powerful" auras like Jim’s, PJ’s and Claire’s. I didn’t really have a choice. Distance was not an option.

From my perspective, when Jim stopped himself while talking to Claire to say he had felt a "strong energy," I think he just lost his train of thought. I had moved from taking over-the-shoulder photos from behind Claire to a position in the opposite corner of the room, behind Jim. As I passed by him, he stopped himself, likely distracted by me moving through little space between the posse and the secretary desk.

Oops. Sorry, Jim. 

Jim’s assertion that I’d be "an easy read," made me chuckle. He followed this thought, speaking hypothetically about how I came from a military family, and that perhaps I was the first to break from that tradition to pursue the arts and become a photographer. So close, Jim! But neither of my parents served in the military; I did. I know I don’t have the physical presence to imply I was a Sergeant of Marines, so he gets a pass.

Conclusion

Overall, we're glad we came back. It was important to check in on our energies, and, of course, check in with Jim. It was excellent to bring Brendan, too, and now we know we didn’t hallucinate that first experience back in May 2024. 

As far as enlightenment goes, we’re not entirely sure we learned more about ourselves. Preparing to graduate in a week, we thought we’d get more about our life plans — some guidance on where we should be pointing next. But maybe some endings are meant to be left open for a while.

We know that Claire could be a full-on psychic, PJ is in a period of transition, our hearts are cracking open and our energies are disruptive enough to make a man feel woozy. We also need to work on the disbelief and logic we come at these topics with. 

Also, upon an independent closer read, we caught a spelling error in our packets. Only mildly questionable. 

Something about this experience was certainly different. Or perhaps it just has a different, higher purpose we’re not recognizing yet. Besides, according to Jim, "the past doesn’t exist. It only exists in our mind." So can we even make comparisons to that first, life-changing visit?

"We time travel all the time and we don’t realize it," he said. 

Intuition says that sounds like an invite back for next year.