On the Cusp

On the Cusp

by | Apr 26, 2019 | Synchronicity

When I reached the one year mark of writing for this website, I came to the realization that I have already fulfilled the purpose that it was meant for. I wanted to show clearly why I say I share a twin soul and soul family connection with Robin Gibb.

I have done my best to demonstrate this by writing about the different ways our connection manifests while he is in spirit and I am incarnate. I have always told the truth about what I have experienced and I did so to contribute to the literature on this topic.

I have always wished that my writings would be of benefit to someone reading, or at least interesting enough to consider.

There are both immense blessings and challenges to having a relationship with a discarnate twin soul. I know there are people in the world that can relate to this. I hope my true stories of my connection with Robin have enriched your life and helped you feel that you are not alone in your experiences with afterlife communication.

I also wanted Robin to have something from me that was from my heart. I gave him that by creating this site, documenting and sharing these experiences of afterlife communication.

So, I feel I have accomplished the goals I set out to accomplish when we created Paisley and Poppies.

Now, I write purely for the joy of it and to be of service to those of you on a similar path as mine. If you are interested in afterlife communication, twin souls, soul families and Robin, then I invite you to continue to visit me here. I will keep writing as long as I have something good to share.

On the Cusp

During the late evening hours of April 20, 2019, I read a book I own called, Synchronicity: The Caduecean Hieratic of Matrix Synchronicity by Greg Castle. (1)

It is very esoteric writing on synchronicity’s great role in soul mate connections. He also writes about soul mate pairings based on zodiac signs. It includes discussions about what enhances and what serves as obstacles to alchemical union. For a sample of his writing, click on the link above and see pages 68-69 from the Google preview.

As I read, I started to think about Robin’s zodiac sign. I remember reading years ago that December 22 falls under the sign of Capricorn, literally the first day of Capricorn.

This also reminded me that he was on the cusp of another zodiac sign. I researched it years ago, but I could not remember what it was. I like astrology as something fun to read about, but I am absolutely not an expert on it and actually know very little about it.

So, during the early morning hours of Easter, April 21st around 12:36am, I starting researching the sign of Capricorn and discovered again that Robin was on the cusp of Sagittarius. The last day of Sagittarius is December 21, according to my source.

This website has a good definition of the meaning of the cusp as it pertains to astrology, which I invite you to visit. The cusp refers to an imaginary line that divides consecutive zodiac signs. People born on the cusp of two signs could feel the influence of both in their lives.

I found some other interesting websites explaining the meaning of the phrase, “on the cusp,” as well as how it specifically pertains to those on the Sagittarius-Capricorn cusp.

This website describes the “cusp dates” as December 18-24 and gives a description of characteristics.

Another website gives information about this cusp from her personal perspective.

I found this information on elephantjournal.com particularly thought-provoking because the author goes into detail about Robin’s astrological chart.

She categorizes him as having his sun sign in Sagittarius, born on December 22, 1949 at 3:15am. This definitely aligns with his birthday being on the cusp as I have been describing.

Since I’m not an expert in astrology as I mentioned, I can’t verify the accuracy of what is written in terms of the astrological chart. I do think it’s fascinating and leave it to you to see what you think. The biographical information she gives is pretty accurate.

As an aside, I thought it was interesting that the author pointed out that both Robin and Maurice had wives at one point who were both interested in yoga and meditation. I see this as a twin-soul parallel, as I have studied yoga and meditation extensively as well and completed my 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2008.

Robin was also personally interested in yoga and meditation through Brahma Kumaris and I wrote about this here.

Prior to Robin’s passing, I had never heard of Brahma Kumaris, but I came to appreciate the similarities with what I had been taught about yoga. I also enjoy some of the BK guided meditations you can find on YouTube.

So, as you can see, I spent quite a bit of time during early Easter morning studying this astrological information about Robin. It’s what I felt like doing at the time since I couldn’t sleep! I didn’t have any big plans for Easter, so it didn’t matter too much that I was up late.

I’m glad I was guided to stay up late and read this. You will see the reason why in a moment.

Messages from Spirit

On Monday, April 22nd, I checked my email as usual and noticed one from Circle of Light called Messages of Love.  It arrived in my inbox at 7:01am, a little over 24 hours after I finished researching the Sagittarius-Capricorn cusp information.

Years ago, I signed up to receive daily messages from this website which in part focuses on twin flame connections. Here is the link if you are interested in learning more about Circle of Light. The Messages of Love are short excerpts taken from the Messages of God written by Yael Powell who passed away in 2018. They are beautiful and have supported my spiritual growth and understanding of twin flames over the years.

I was so surprised and blissfully happy when I saw the beginning sentence of the email that was visible before I clicked on it. I include a portion of the email text here because the message is not showing up at this time in the archives that I linked to above. The bold is mine for emphasis:

“Because you are on the cusp of such great change, the most powerful of these experiences in the world right now is the experience of this intimate communion, that each of you might recognize that you are not alone, even while appearing as a human being.”

~Yael Powell

Here is the screenshot of the exact email so you can see what I am referring to:

This synchronicity was truly a message of love and such a beautiful way to synchronize with Robin. I especially love it when we synchronize through material that has to do with twin souls. It gives the message additional strength and support in terms of showing the truth of our connection.

Since the “on the cusp” message matched the research I was doing about Robin approximately 24 hours earlier, it is something I feel I need to pay especially close attention to.

Significance of November 4

There is something else interesting about my emails from Circle of Light. Beginning on November 25, 2013, I noticed that I was assigned a date and time that appeared as my email address. Before that, my actual name appeared in the email sent to me. So, this change was unusual.

From my records, the best that I can tell is that I initially signed up to receive these messages in October of 2013.

Here is the email I received on April 22nd. Please see the last line beginning with “To” in the screen shot I provided here:

The “2013-11-04” got my attention. That is because November 4th is the birthday for Robin’s youngest daughter, Snow. I did not know this back in 2013, but over the years, I discovered how this date assigned to me from Circle of Light matched her. Here is evidence of her birthday:

On November 4 Robin and Dwina’s former housekeeper Claire Yang, 33, gave birth to his daughter at London’s private Portland Hospital.

While the birth certificate listed Robin as the father of Snow Evelyn Robin Juliet Gibb, the matter escaped public knowledge at the time. (1)

At first, I was not sure why I was assigned this date. But then it became clear after I found out about Robin’s daughter.

The website administrators of Circle of Light are using the ISO 8601 format for their database. Here is a description to clarify that I am correct in interpreting this date as November 4, 2013:

Date and time values are ordered from the largest to smallest unit of time: year, month (or week), day, hour, minute, second, and fraction of second. The lexicographical order of the representation thus corresponds to chronological order, except for date representations involving negative years. This allows dates to be naturally sorted by, for example, file systems.

To me, this is another demonstration of how the connection between twin souls includes our family members. I wrote about this in my Life Parallels blog post and mentioned that some of my family member’s birthdays match a couple of Robin’s family member’s birthdays.

I think it is very touching that Robin’s daughter’s birthday numbers show up in my email that comes from a twin flame website. I have received my email with this date for almost 6 years. I have no way of knowing if other people get the same numbers as me. Some people might say it’s just a coincidence, but it’s more than that to me. This date is important to me and a sign of Robin’s presence with me. It is a date that would certainly remind me of him.

I have been communicating with Robin for a long time now. Over the years, I have come to acknowledge, appreciate and accept the signs I am given and the way they are given. The date and time is right in front of my face, so there is no disputing them. It’s a nice gift and I think that’s how it’s meant to be taken.

Thank you for taking this journey with me on the cusp.

Love,

Christina

References

  1. Castle, Greg (2016). Synchronicity: The Caduecean Hieratic of Matrix Synchronicity, Nordhammer Publishers.
  2. Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook,Hector; Môn Hughes,Andrew (2013). The Ultimate Biography Of The Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb (Kindle Locations 18207-18211). Omnibus Press. Kindle Edition.
Thumbs Up

Thumbs Up

by | Apr 12, 2019 | Synchronicity

It has been over a year since we launched Paisley and Poppies to celebrate afterlife communication, twin soul and soul family connections with Robin.

It has been a blessing and a joy to write and share stories that I hope you have enjoyed and benefited from.

I have another story of synchronicity and Robin’s presence with me to share with you.

On April 9th, I went to the doctor for my initial consultation regarding my upcoming colonoscopy. I briefly mentioned I would be doing this in this post.

I’m sharing this information with you here because I feel I have an important spiritual responsibility to bring awareness to colorectal care given what Robin went through. I would like to use this website as a tool for good purposes and to disseminate life-saving messages where I can.

This site is first and foremost about afterlife communication with Robin, and part of that is dealing with these human health issues that affect us all.  I know he would want me to write about this.

I spoke with Robin about my appointment beforehand. I also prayed to God for love and support to be sent to me to help me get through this experience. I found it anxiety-provoking to go for a different type of cancer screening after already going through breast cancer. Maybe some of you can relate. But, it has to be done and I promised myself, my husband and Robin that I would go. I asked Robin for his support and love and to be with me to whatever extent possible.

Thumbs Up!

After my appointment, my husband Julian and I went for a walk. While walking down the sidewalk, past shops and restaurants, I saw a man wearing a t-shirt that had the words, “Thumbs Up” on it.

I distinctly felt Robin’s presence with me. As you may know, one of Robin’s mannerisms was giving the “thumbs up” sign, while in the public eye, on a regular basis. I felt like that was my sign that he was with me, giving me the “thumbs up” for going to my appointment.

We continued walking until we reached a library and spent about a ½ hour there. While I was there, I bought a book from their little bookstore.

After this, we went to an Italian restaurant. I had a yummy spinach and ricotta calzone. It was a treat and a break from my usual diet of organic salads, vegetable stews with turmeric, sardines and sprouted grains.

After we returned home, I still had the “thumbs up” t-shirt on my mind. So, I googled, Robin Gibb thumbs up. If you click on the link, you will see lots of evidence that Robin very often made this gesture.

I read this nice story (see Singapore, August 23, 2005) where a fan mentioned Robin’s “thumb up” sign during his Asian tour.

If you’re in love with Robin, you can find plenty of cute pictures of him over the years giving the thumbs up sign on Pinterest, lol!

The Rainbows

Then I found this heart-touching Daily Mail article by David Wigg (July 4, 2013) where Barry Gibb is quoted as saying (the emphasis in bold is mine):

‘The last time when I came over to see him, just before he died, he was unable to speak to me because he had an oxygen mask and was drifting in and out of consciousness. But I always got the familiar thumbs-up from him.’

I had never read this article before and I learned some painful details about the Bee Gees’ past that I didn’t know. For the rest of my life, I’ll always be learning something new about them it seems.

I continued to read the next paragraph and noticed this interesting and synchronistic commentary (emphasis mine):

During one visit, while Robin was in a coma, Barry sang a song that he had written for him called The End Of The Rainbow.

Why is this quote synchronistic? As I mentioned previously, I went to the library after my doctor’s appointment and purchased a book. The book that I bought is called, The Rainbow, by D.H. Lawrence.

I’m not that familiar with D.H. Lawrence’s work, but I liked the title. I flipped through a few pages before I bought it. It seemed like a romance novel and had beautiful imagery, so I bought it for 27 cents!

It was the first book by D.H. Lawrence that I have ever purchased. I was meant to buy this book on that day.

The purchase of this book synchronized with the title of Barry’s song mentioned in this article, which I connected with as a result of researching Robin’s “thumbs up.”

This caused me to feel strongly connected to Robin. I feel his presence was with me throughout my meanderings that day. It eased the tension of facing my colonoscopy appointment. That is one of the main benefits of afterlife communication: it comforts us and reminds us that spiritually, we are not alone. Unseen loved ones are with us. They make their presence known and “visible” through these communications.

I also love how these events were connected. One thing led to another, in terms of reminders of Robin and synchronistic occurrences. The “rainbow synchronicity” actually reinforced for me that my sighting of the “thumbs up” t-shirt was a very strong sign of Robin’s presence with me.

If I hadn’t seen the t-shirt, I may not have received the rainbow synchronicity later that evening because I would not have been motivated to do any research on Robin’s thumbs up. I deeply love how these events are orchestrated, right down to the choice of buying my book.

This is how loved ones in spirit bring beauty into our lives. Events such as these can occur between you and your loved one in spirit who has your best interests at heart.

Share from the Heart

Speaking of heart, I would like to close this post with words from The Book of Theanna: In the Lands that Follow Death by Ellias and Theanna Lonsdale. The twin soul authors bring to the forefront a point I would like to make:

What we seek in the beyond-the-body state is to share on heart levels.

This is what the synchronicities and communications between Robin and me are showing: a desire to share on heart levels. His spirit showed up in my life on a most anxious day to reassure me and get my mind off of my problems. I feel the synchronicities are from the beautiful heart of Robin, in the form of a “thumbs up” t-shirt, a book and a song with “rainbow” in the title.

Sharing at heart levels is spirit communication at its best. It’s what I’ve grown accustomed to with Robin. He loves to use things going on in my life that are a clear reference to who he was as a person and one that I could not possibly overlook. I share at heart levels with him by including him in my life and being truthful about what is in my heart, whether I’m happy or downcast.

Through my blog posts, I have been sharing on heart levels with you, my readers. I don’t want to wait until I’m in my beyond-the-body state to do that. We can do this now. It matters just as much now as it does after we pass.

During the past year, I’ve also done my best to show you the loving heart of Robin Gibb that lives on in spirit. It is my great wish that I have been successful.

I hope you will come back and visit again soon. Thank you for reading!

References

Love,

Christina

St. Uriel

St. Uriel

by | Mar 29, 2019 | General Communications, Synchronicity

On a daily basis, I invite Robin’s spirit to be a part of my life. How I do this varies. Some days, I will recite a mantra.

Other days, I will read a guided meditation to him or say a Christian prayer. I regularly bring him a cup of tea. Sometimes, I sit at his altar and play some of his music, like the beautiful Bee Gees song Wedding Day. Is anybody reading this getting married soon? This might be a great song for you!

Attunement with Saints

On March 23rd, I decided to invite him into my day by reading this article called Celebrating Our Inner Attunement with a Great Soul (December 27, 2016) by Tyagi Jayadev.

This blog post is from Ananda, a yogic spiritual organization based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and founded by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda.

I printed this article quite a while ago, but was guided back to it on this day because of its teachings on inner closeness and attunement with a saint. When I read this article and put its suggestions into practice, I feel I am fine-tuning my spirit communication skills.

So, I read some parts of this article out loud to Robin. Just as the prayers were adapted to include a saint, I adapted them to include Robin too (see #1 Prayer to the Saint in the article). I offered this invitation:

“Beloved Robin, I will enjoy your spirit, your music and your interviews. I will feel you in my heart. I will think you in my thoughts. I am open to any wisdom you have to share with me.”

As it was written, I think this is a beautiful prayer to adapt to a saint, your Lord, God, or any loved one in spirit that is of Love and in a good place spiritually. It helps to develop inner closeness and warmth with your loved one. I would only want to invite this with a spiritual being that I love and trust and who loves me. This quote below is very important to keep in mind:

“One can develop cosmic magnetism by thinking of God and saintly people. By concentrating deeply upon a certain personality, one can attract that personality. That is why one should think only of great individuals.”

This message above from Paramahansa Yogananda mirrors the message from Mr. William Stead that I wrote about in my post, The Blue Island. The bold is mine:

“Anyone who sits for a moment and allows his mind to dwell on some dear one who has “died” will actually draw the spirit of that person to himself. He may be conscious or unconscious of the presence, but the presence is there.  If people on earth realized the result of their thoughts upon those to whom they refer, they would be very much more careful in giving their mind free play.”

Over the years, Robin has shown himself to be a kind and loving spirit in his actions towards me. This is why I trust him enough to engage in practices such as this. I have learned so much from him as evidenced by what I have written throughout this website. He is a dear and trustworthy spiritual guide. My spiritual life and learning really opened up after he “died.” I have been in soul school with him for almost 7 years. That’s what it is to me.

I also like section 3 of this article, Meditating with the Saint. It really is a form of afterlife communication. The author encourages us to feel our saint very near, alive and present.

This reminded me of another excerpt I recently read, written by Laura Patsouris. She is the author of a book called Weaving Memory: A Guide to Honoring the Ancestors.

In her book, she writes about welcoming your ancestors into your home and inviting them to weave themselves into the fabric of your everyday life. In this way, our loved ones are free to make their presence known and do indeed feel very close, spiritually alive and available.

Here is the excerpt.

Whether it is an ancestor, a saint, your twin soul, God, Buddha, Jesus, or a beloved grandparent, we can invite any of these loved ones in spirit to weave their energy, guidance and presence into our daily lives. It is a beautiful spiritual practice. Eventually, we are going to be where they are. So, we may as well create these loving bonds and keep them strong now while we are embodied. When the time for our passing comes, we will be glad we did.

Afterlife CommunicationsSo on this day, I invited Robin and the rest of my spiritual support system into my life and daily activities to communicate any messages however they wished. My job is to keep my heart open to the communications, but I surrender the how to them. They know much better than me what is best each day.

I focused on this article on communion and attunement with saints until I felt ready to get on with the rest of my day.

 

St. Uriel

Later in the day, I was out driving with my husband. To my surprise, in front of us, was a car with a license plate that read ST URIEL. On the back windshield it said, Angels Help Us. I was very moved and struck by this as I had just spent the morning meditating with Robin on attuning with saints! It was a beautiful moment and very rare to see such a license plate. I see that as my communication back from Robin acknowledging the time I spent with him in meditation and reading that morning.

In the article, the word “saint” is mentioned 25 times, so as I entered into my day, I was infused with this energy! It was such a blessing to see this license plate.

Since I was given this license plate communication, I felt it important to research and study St. Uriel in more depth. I think Spirit was telling me that he is a good saint for me to connect and work with. There is lots of information online about him. Briefly, he is said to be the angel that warned Noah of the impending flood. He is also said to help cleanse toxic emotions. Here are some resources on St./Archangel Uriel for your edification:

My history with Paramahansa Yogananda

I first became acquainted with the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda during my yoga teacher training back in 2008. I read his book Autobiography of a Yogi for an important assignment. I felt connected to him and transformed by his teachings. I went on to study the Self-Realization Fellowship lessons and occasionally attended services at a center.

Chapter 43, The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar is one of my favorite chapters of his book. If you are interested in reading it, it is available to you for free at the link I provided above.

At the time I read it in 2008, I didn’t know it, but it was preparing me for my relationship and communications with Robin. This chapter is about Paramahansa Yogananda’s afterlife communication with his deceased guru Sri Yukteswar. He goes into detail about the astral world and astral beings.

I found this teaching below particularly relevant and important and I placed in bold the statements very salient to me. I think this provides a clue as to how Robin was able to recognize me, his twin from his soul family that he never met:

“The earth-liberated astral being meets a multitude of relatives, fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, and friends, acquired during different incarnations on earth, as they appear from time to time in various parts of the astral realms. He is therefore at a loss to understand whom to love especially; he learns in this way to give a divine and equal love to all, as children and individualized expressions of God. Though the outward appearance of loved ones may have changed, more or less according to the development of new qualities in the latest life of any particular soul, the astral being employs his unerring intuition to recognize all those once dear to him in other planes of existence, and to welcome them to their new astral home.” (Pg. 483-484)

I am a firm believer that once we leave our physical bodies and this plane of existence, we are able to find, discern and read the energy patterns of those we once knew and loved. But, I don’t think we necessarily have to wait until physical death to be able to discern and intuit those with whom we share a deep spiritual connection.

Afterlife CommunicationsThrough my own heart and soul intuition, I was able to identify Robin, like a needle in a haystack, as one of my own from my soul family. We all possess and can develop this type of intuition. The key after that is to trust it and to see if God and our loved one respond with validation. If it is a true spiritual connection based on love and caring for the spirit of another, you will receive an answer.

References

Patsouris, Laura (November 21, 2011) Weaving Memory: A Guide to Honoring the Ancestors, Asphodel Press.

Yogananda, Paramahansa (1946) Autobiography of a Yogi, Authorized by the International Publications Council of Self-Realization Fellowship, Pgs. 483-484.

Thank you for reading!

With Love,

Christina

Sharing Your Life

Sharing Your Life

by | Mar 22, 2019 | General Communications, Synchronicity, Twin Souls

It is very possible to share your life in the physical world with your twin soul and/or loved ones in spirit. It is a beautiful thing to invite loved ones in spirit to partake in daily experiences and to see how they respond.

Whether it’s a good meal, a beautiful sunset, the sound of birds chirping, an amazing trip to another country, or a starry night, it can be so fulfilling to directly share and “send” to your loved one what you are experiencing.

How do you send it? You can think of them and speak to them in your heart or out loud if you’re alone and tell them what you are experiencing. The other day, I was riding my bike alone and saw the most beautiful pink-orange sunset. I spoke with Robin out loud while I was riding and shared with him that the sunset was so beautiful and that I thought he would love it. I was consciously and intentionally sharing the sunset with him from my heart and sending it to him so he could be a part of it. I have a lot of faith in this because I know we are spiritually and telepathically connected.

From the Heart

When I was first learning how to communicate with Robin in 2012, I came across this beautiful article called Language of the Heart by a woman named Cordula.

It was from her that I learned I could invite and communicate with Robin this way. Her writings are unique gems in the vast sea of literature on afterlife communication.

She wrote specifically about communicating with deceased loved ones from the heart. She based her suggestions on Rudolph Steiner’s work.

Cordula wrote about inviting deceased loved ones into any experiences that are soul-stirring or inspiring, such as those connected to art or nature.

On March 7th, I read Cordula’s writings again. I had not read them in quite a while, but I refer back to them when I feel guided to do so. I had printed the articles I mentioned above and kept them all these years, but at the time in 2012, I forgot to include the website link that I got her articles from.

So, I went on a research expedition trying to find her website again. It wasn’t easy, but after finding just the right word combination, I found it. But I found more than that.

It turns out Cordula Feuerstack passed away on February 2, 2014. Her photo is at the bottom of this page.

When I saw her obituary, I was so surprised to see that her birthday was March 6, 1969. Her birthday anniversary was just the day before I was guided to research her after all these years! Before March 7th, I had never researched her background in any greater depth than what was on her About page. But I felt so moved and connected to Cordula’s spirit when I realized that I was drawn back to her around her birthday without realizing it at the time. This is the beautiful way spirit works!

I learned so much from Cordula and she helped me greatly in my early days of communicating with Robin. I am so grateful Cordula and send you love. Thank you!

Sharing Movies

After being refreshed and inspired by Cordula’s and Steiner’s writings, I decided to invite Robin’s spirit to enjoy a movie with me on the evening of March 12th.

I recently bought a DVD called Cairo Time because the previews looked interesting and beautiful.

Here is a description of the plot.

My husband Julian was busy, so I decided to take my small portable DVD player and plug it in near Robin’s altar. I relaxed on the floor beside his altar with a pillow and spoke with Robin out loud. I said, “If you want to watch this movie with me, you are welcome to.” Then I said, “It would be great to get a synchronicity from this, if that could be arranged!” I laughed and smiled with him, half joking and half serious.

afterlife communicationsWell, it turns out, I did get a synchronicity. In the movie, Tareq and Juliet were walking together on a paved tree-lined road in Cairo, Egypt.

Tareq said to Juliet, “You know these trees they have a privilege to live along side their ancestors. Some of them are 500 years old.”

As soon as I heard that, I thought back to my post on Twin Trees. I mentioned the trees at the Audubon sanctuary as being 500 years old. Here is my text:

On January 6, 2019, I went on a trip to a beautiful Audubon nature sanctuary with my husband.

It is an ancient forest teeming with life. Some of the trees there are 500 years old. We saw otters swimming, an Ibis family, little blue herons, raccoons and beautiful trees that I wanted to hug!

I was so amazed and happy to share this movie with Robin for the first time and hear something that so clearly matched what I had recently written about for him. It stood out to me as being very special. In January, I had just learned about these 500 year old trees in Florida. It was so nice to hear about them again in the context of this movie I was inspired to share with Robin. It was like we were revisiting the same topic again together. The 500 year old trees came back to me while I was with Robin at his altar. That was awesome!

I found this 2004 video of Robin a few months ago. I loved hearing him speak about how he felt trees are important. Click here to see the video. Beginning at 3:00 into the video, listen for a few more moments and you will hear Robin’s comment about trees. I thought it appropriate to share this here.

When you share your life with your twin, soul mate or loved ones in spirit, it could lead you into an even more beautiful experience with something that connects back to them. I would suggest following your intuition and guidance and see where it leads you. It’s possible I was being given a nudge to watch this movie to give me the gift of this synchronicity with the 500 year old trees. God, Jesus, Robin, my guardian angels and spirit guides knew this would be important to me.

Loved ones in spirit know what will be important to you too. They know what will stand out to you and get your attention. The mention of 500 year old trees will always get my attention after writing my blog post. I knew Robin’s spirit was with me.

Afterlife communication with Robin is beautiful and fulfilling because of these experiences. If you have a close bond of love with someone in spirit, you may enjoy sharing more aspects of your life with them. As mentioned above, Cordula had great ideas that can guide you. Even though she left the earth plane in 2014, her works are still online for people to benefit from.

I wish you great blessings and the warmth and love of shared lives across the veil.

Love,

Christina

Legacy

Legacy

by | Feb 24, 2019 | General Communications, Synchronicity, Twin Souls

In honor of Black History Month here in the United States, I would like to present this article I wrote about Robin in 2012. I was still getting to know who he was as a person and musician at that time. I learned quickly that he and his brothers felt a strong connection to black R&B soul music. I write this post to honor and recognize this connection and the courage he had to give birth to the R&B music that truly was in his heart.

Robin Gibb: An Interracial Musical Legacy

By Christina Samuels

September 19, 2012 (updated February 22, 2019)

This article is dedicated to Robin Gibb, to honor his memory and legacy.

Robin Hugh Gibb, CBE of the Bee Gees died on May 20, 2012 at the age of 62.

The outpouring of kind sentiments since his death shows that Robin is a much-loved man for a variety of reasons. Whether it is love of the Bee Gees music, Robin’s music as a solo artist, his sense of humor, or tremendous humanitarian spirit, many can find a reason to send blessings his way.

No-Go Areas in Music

When you first think of Robin Gibb, you may not think of him as having an interracial musical legacy. However, if you listen closely to some of the things he has said over the years, it is clear to me that he did.

Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a 2010 documentary on the Bee Gees called In Our Own Time.

During a segment of this documentary, Robin commented on the period of time during the 1970’s when the Bee Gees recorded one of their famous hits, Jive Talkin’.

He mentioned the pressures that white bands, especially white American bands, had at the time to not go into so-called black areas of music. However, as a British band, Robin commented that they did not feel the same pressures or fears. According to Robin, “Because we were English, we were less self-conscious about exploring the no-go areas…” He then goes on to say, “We didn’t think that there was any “no go” areas, it’s music!”

I could not agree more. Within these words lies the heart of Robin Gibb’s interracial musical legacy. He loved black R&B music as did his brothers. But more importantly, they had the courage and talent to not only pursue this love, but to bring their unique creations into the world, whether other people liked it or not.

I felt so many emotions when I heard Robin’s words. First, I was so grateful that he, his brothers and producers had the courage to see music this way. Imagine how many Bee Gees songs would have never been released if they had thought otherwise.

It has always been a shame to me that racial segregation has crept into and corrupted something as universal as music.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating and acknowledging the racial and ethnic origins of different types of music. The Bee Gees were good at acknowledging the black American roots of their music and openly confessed their admiration of artists such as Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding. (1)

In a Detroit Metro Times article by Michael Jackman, Robin is quoted as saying:

“The Bee Gees were always heavily influenced by black music … and soul has always been my favorite genre.” 

But, why should singers be banned from performing a certain type of music if they are not from a particular race or ethnic group? To do this is to cut off the creative energy that groups like the Bee Gees wanted to express. If they have the talent, why not support them in pursuing the music that excites them?  

There are no “no go” areas when it comes to performing music or listening to music as a fan.

The Racial Politics of Music

As a black American woman, there have been many times in my life when black friends and acquaintances would raise an eyebrow at my diverse taste in music. This was especially during the late 1980’s. If I dared to express my fondness for bands such as U2 or REM, I would be met with disapproval clearly indicating I was some kind of social misfit.

To them, this type of music was a “no go” area.

I guess I’m not supposed to like them according to some people because I’m black and I owe some kind of strange loyalty to only black musicians. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I like lots of styles of black music, especially 70’s disco, but I also like lots of other types of music as well. It’s too bad I didn’t have Robin’s quote handy at the time.

I was confronted with a similar attitude just a few years ago. My husband and I were shopping in a store and waiting for assistance. On that day, I was wearing a Bee Gees t-shirt. While we were waiting, a black gentleman came in the store. He was waiting for customer service as well. He looked over at me and saw my t-shirt. He said, “Bee Gees? That’s a first.” I said to him that they are my favorite band and I love them.

After we left the store, my husband spoke to me about this comment. He said that the guy said that to me because I’m probably the first black female that he’s ever seen wearing a Bee Gees t-shirt!  That may very well be the case, but I’ve got news for him: black women like the Bee Gees too! We do now and we did in the 70’s. I guess he never saw this Soul Train video showing plenty of black women dancing to the Bee Gees’ music! I wish the video was longer!

The funny thing is that day, Spirit had my back. As we were pulling out of the store, getting ready to make a left turn, I saw a truck with a license plate that read, “T-SHIRT”! Can you believe that? Right on cue too, after all this talk about my Bee Gees t-shirt. I felt like I was being watched over. That was pretty cool!

I love my Bee Gees t-shirts and I will continue to wear them. This t-shirt is one of my favorites because I love the colorful font.

I get nice comments from both white men and women about my t-shirts. It seems people love being reminded of the Bee Gees. The shirts are great conversation starters in grocery stores!

During the summer of 2017, I called for an Uber driver while I was in Atlanta, Georgia. I was picked up by an older black gentleman who was listening to a Christian radio station. He asked me if the music was ok and I said, “Yes, I need all the help I can get.” I was in the process of moving at the time.

While I was in his car, my phone rang. When it rings, Stayin’ Alive plays.

After I got off the phone, he was quiet for a few moments. Then he made a comment about how Stayin’ Alive was playing when my phone rang and how much he liked hearing it again. He said he thought that was really good music back then. We had fun talking about 70’s music during the rest of the trip. Hearing Stayin’ Alive for just a few moments made both of our days more enjoyable and I encouraged him to listen to more Bee Gees music. For many of us, it brings back good memories.

When it comes down to it, music is universal art that can take many forms and evoke a wide range of emotions. Music is created by humans of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds but ultimately transcends these human limitations. As of 2019, I would say that most people have musical tastes that include artists not of their own racial or ethnic background.

No one should be made to feel bad because they like the music of people who come from a different ethnic group than their own. That is the absurdity of racism. It is ultimately a complete waste of energy. I prefer to enjoy the delicious buffet that is the music industry.

Photo by: NBC Television - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17161246

Photo by: NBC Television – eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17161246

Twin Souls-Racial Identity

For this segment, the sociologist within me is going to come out.

The Bee Gees were so good at singing black R&B soul music, there was a time that fans thought they were black. In an interview from 1989 by Ina.fr on YouTube, they talked about their R&B roots and their crossover as a white band into black music.

The interviewer commented on how fans thought they were black, at which time Robin joked and said, “Well, we were black, but we had an operation 3 years ago and mine didn’t quite work…” Meaning, he was still black. He made some other funny comments that made me laugh.

I cannot find the interview on Youtube at this time, but maybe you’ve seen it if you’re a fan of the Bee Gees. Here is a clip from the interview, which was much longer originally. You may recognize it.

Unfortunately, it does not have the dialogue I’m referring to. I have the quotes from the interview because I have it saved in my files.

The interviewer also asked Barry about the similarities between his and Robin’s voice since they are brothers.

Barry said, “They’re not really that similar.” He went on to say that the tones are similar but, “Robin’s voice is a little blacker than mine, a little more R&B, as he said, he is black…”

Then Robin said, “I’ve always been black…” Barry interjected with a slight disagreement, remarking about some other time but Maurice said they didn’t want to talk about that.

When I was just learning about him years ago, it really stood out to me that he felt so closely identified with black music that he would say this. I was also so happy from a twin soul perspective, because I’m black.

When twin souls come from different parts of the world, they probably won’t look alike. But I hypothesize that twin souls may identify with each other’s racial or ethnic background in some way so they end up feeling like they are a part of the racial group that their twin is a part of.

Robin said he’d always been black, in terms of music and perhaps in other ways I’m not aware of. I grew up in a predominately white, Irish-Catholic suburb of Boston, MA which contributed to my feeling biracial most of my life internally even though externally to the world, I am black. Sometimes, racial identity is a little more complex than neatly fitting in a box of “black” or “white.”

I wonder sometimes if I was born where I was so I would be more closely connected to Robin’s racial background. It’s interesting that he was raised in England and I was born and raised in New England. I also wonder if this was orchestrated so that we would see the connection later, after his death.

At any rate, being born and raised in the suburbs of Boston had everything to do with my musical tastes because I was usually exposed to the songs of white musicians on a regular basis. That is what I was surrounded by. I am grateful that I never had a segregationist view of music.

Twin Soul Music Issues

At one point or another, Robin and I both had trouble gaining acceptance, in terms of music, in a way that is similar to each other.

There was a time when black radio stations didn’t want to play Bee Gees music because they were white singers.

Robin was an English singer who listened to and loved black R&B soul music. He sang in the style of R&B contemporary music but was rejected by black stations because he was a member of a white band.

I’m sure that rejection was difficult for him and his brothers because of their love for black soul music.

When I learned about the rejection he faced, it reminded me of my own issues with rejection over my musical tastes.

As I mentioned above, there was a time in my life when some of my black friends didn’t like it that I loved alternative rock music created by white musicians.

They treated me like I was doing something that I wasn’t supposed to do. That was difficult for me as well, to be rejected because of the music I liked.

The roots of these attitudes lie in the troubled racial history of the United States. It is reflected in this article from Billboard, October 30, 1976 by Paul Grein called Black Radio – Racial Lines in Fadeout?

Here is a screen shot from page 3 illustrating this point. The link above will take you to a section of the Billboard article where the Bee Gees are mentioned, as well as the politics behind why certain music is played on particular radio stations. It’s really interesting to read Billboard articles from the 1970’s.

Billboard Image

Screenshot of Billboard October 30 1976

Even though we had vastly different connections with music (Robin being a career musician versus my being a music fan), we both dealt with race-related music issues. Robin faced this discrimination and rejection on a much larger, more public scale than me, but I can truly relate to how he must have felt. We both faced rejection because we crossed over into areas of music different than our own racial group, thereby challenging rigid cultural norms and stereotypes.

Ultimately, we both decided to be true to ourselves and followed the music we loved despite the shaming disapproval of others. We both had self-acceptance which is the most important acceptance to have.

Acceptance

The self-acceptance and perseverance eventually evolved into acceptance from black radio stations because the Bee Gees were great song-writers and singers and they had the right sound. This is an important aspect of black history as it relates to music in the U.S.

In an article called, Why the Bee Gees Sound So Good by Janet Maslin (February 18, 1979, Page 19; The New York Times Archives) the Bee Gees were described as having the same strengths as Motown groups. They were able to create dance and party music that both black and white audiences enjoyed. (2)

This statement is mirrored by Robin’s comments made during the time that Too Much Heaven was released and gaining more attention:

Much to the group’s delight, it also rapidly gained recognition on the American soul radio stations. “At the moment, it’s really taken off big on the black stations,” Robin said. “We’ve got a lot of black people buying our records, but we’ve never had [acceptance from] black stations.” (3)

It seems like it took a beautiful song with themes of love and heaven to help break down that wall and gain the acceptance. Too Much Heaven is a song that all of humanity can benefit from and relate to at some point in our lives.

To substantiate what Robin said, here is a screenshot from Billboard, September 30, 1978, page 43, where there is a discussion of black radio stations playing Bee Gees music to a much greater extent: See the image below.

Billboard September 30 1978

Screenshot, Billboard Sept. 30 1978

I celebrate the fact that the Bee Gees were able to overcome the reluctance of black radio stations to play their music during the late 1970’s. (See the17th paragraph down on the albumlinernotes link). Music has the potential to bring people together in unity.

Black stations agreed to play Bee Gees’ music it because it was great music at its core that they liked. And as Robin said, black listeners and audiences liked the Bee Gees music and wanted to hear it played on the radio, so black stations had to change to keep up with the demands of the times.

In Closing

I close with this quote below. As I read this, I took a moment to consider how much work and sacrifice it took the Bee Gees to create soulful, impactful music across the decades that connected with people from all backgrounds. The Bee Gees are not popular with just black and white audiences. Their fans come from all around the world, including Japan and Mexico:

By 1976, “The Bee Gees’ music had successfully spanned several generations, and they were also popular with both black and white audiences, an accomplishment that is rare in rock history. Virtually no group has enjoyed such mass popularity with such a diverse audience…” (4)

For this reason, I will always admire and enjoy the interracial and multi-cultural legacy of Robin Gibb and the Bee Gees.

I learned a lot about the music industry in the 1970’s as a result of writing this post and really enjoyed it. It was an interesting way to acknowledge Black History Month. I honor black R&B soul musicians who positively influenced the careers of many successful artists, including the Bee Gees.

Thank you, Robin, for sharing your gifts with the world. You will always be loved and remembered. Love and thanks to Maurice as well.

References

  1. Bee Gees: The Authorized Biography by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb as told to David Leaf, March, 1979, page 101
  2. https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/18/archives/why-the-bee-gees-sound-so-good-the-bee-gees.html
  3. Bilyeu, Melinda; Cook,Hector; Môn Hughes,Andrew. The Ultimate Biography Of The Bee Gees: Tales Of The Brothers Gibb (Kindle Locations 12185-12187). Omnibus Press. Kindle Edition.
  4. Bee Gees: The Authorized Biography by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb as told to David Leaf, March, 1979, page106

 

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