Psychic Gifts & Family Ghosts-The Byte!

Anita Holsapple lives in two worlds, the animist world of her mother, a Japanese war bride, and the very concrete world of her Marine father. But some gifts cannot be denied, and in this interview she shares the powerful abilities that women in her family possess.

Transcript

Hi, Everyone, And welcome back to the Bite-Sized Blessings podcast, The podcast where I interview intrepid and incredible human beings who tell stories of mystery, Magic, And miracle. I started this podcast because I began having experiences that I couldn't explain, And I was curious to see if others had had liminal experiences as well. And guess what? The answer is yes. And my guest this time Anita Sugimura Holesapple is no exception. Anita is a remarkable and inspired human being with an insanely great sense of humor. But she's also a filmmaker, Sociologist, Conflict resolution specialist, Storyteller, As well as a daughter of a U. S. Marine and a daughter of a Nagasaki survivor. We talk about all this and more, But I'm really grateful I'm grateful to share Anita's spirit today. It's delightful and delighted by the world. It's intelligent and inquisitive, And it's full of the best sense of fun and play that you could ever imagine. And her legacy, Or the legacy of her ancestors? Well, Anita comes from a family that's deeply intuitive, Deeply psychic, And Anita's family has gifts that I hope someday science will actually be able to explain. But that's enough for the intro. I really want you to meet Anita and hear all of her incredible and paranormal and possibly divine encounters. All right, Here's my conversation with Anita. It's like I saw a doppelganger with my dad. And this was several months before he passed, So I knew he was going to pass. And that was weird because I had never experienced that before. And that was really strange. I saw it, Just me, Because it was in front of the kitchen window. And I thought, I was like, Is Pop outside? Literally went outside, Because I was like, This is weird. And I saw it twice. I saw it twice. So I knew. I knew. I want to just ask this question before I get to the main question, Because we were talking about Santa Fe. You visited here, You've been here, And you said, Oh my gosh, That place is haunted. So I am curious, Do you just have a sensitivity to those spaces? Because I do. I do. I went to a hotel here that's about two and a half hours away. Really well known. It's out in the middle of nowhere, And it still has its same like frontier saloon and all of this stuff. And it's famous for being haunted. And, You know, I didn't feel anything until I got into the second floor. And then I was like, Whoa, There is something here. And it's, You know, It's in this corner, I could absolutely feel it. I didn't know what it was. But there was something there. And the other thing I thought was, I don't want to, I don't want to scare it. And I don't want to antagonize it. So I kept my distance. I just thought, OK, I know something's over there. I'm going to just give it its space. I don't want to be rude. But so you, You're sensitive too. Runs in my family right on my mother's side. Oh, My my cousin actually is like the sixth sense lady. She sees ghosts everywhere. Yeah, It runs in my family. And my first encounter was at the Whaley House in San Diego. And I was 10. It was the first time I really remember. And it's just every time I head back to San Diego, It's just weird. I have to go to the Whaley House. And my friends make fun of me. And they're like, Why do you have to do this? I'm like, I can't explain it. But I have to go. Every time I go back to San Diego, I have to go there. And it's, You know, My friends, They all just make fun of me. They're like, Okay, Anita's going to the Whaley house again. I can't explain it, But it's just a trick I have to make. But yeah, I've seen. Spirits, I. . . I'm highly sensitive to negative, Highly, Highly. That's why it's really hard for me to go to New Orleans. Because if I start to get closer to the city, It's just I can feel it. It's it feels like a physical barrier. It really does. That's how much I feel it. And because of just everything that, And you can tell different cities have different energies of negativity based on what is infused in that area. I know some people, Your listeners might be like, Okay. I'm going to need a world, But no, They've heard, They've heard much more than this. Let me tell you. Yeah. And including, You know, I think part of the reason I started this podcast is I've been having for years experiences that are super normal and that, You know, Modern science or Western culture would explain away or maybe want to put me in an institution. And so, You know, My, You know, Part of the reason I just needed to know if other people were having liminal experiences or different experiences. And it's, It is how this podcast has helped me to feel less alone, I guess. But it's it is challenging when you grew up in a paradigm where anything that hasn't been observed or proved is, You know. Yeah. Not real quote unquote. Yeah. Um, So I, You know, I liked it. So now I feel like we have even more in common. Yes. Um, So when you were 10 and this happened, Was it, Were you surprised? Were you shocked? I was confused. Okay. I wasn't afraid. I was confused. Because all of a sudden you have all this input that you didn't have before, And you're trying to make sense of it. Was this a real person? It was audible first. And that's what I had. It was this crazy laughter. And I thought, And I'm looking around and then you're seeing. The visual. And that's probably what I pick up. I mean, You know, It's kind of half and half. You know, There are times where I, You know, I'm sensitive to smells too, Like I can tell when a spirit's in and someone's around me because you get a very defining scent. And so I get the audible, I get the scent, I'll see them, But seeing them is less. The only thing that I can recall outside of that, There's been a couple of occasions, Like I saw a doppelganger with my dad, And this was several months before he passed. So I knew he was going to pass. And that was weird because I had never experienced that before. And that was really strange. Do you think it was, Was it there to kind of? Prep him or usher him because I'm sure he saw it. Just me. Cause it kept in front of the kitchen window. And I thought I was like, His pop outside. Okay. Okay. I literally went outside because I was like. . . This is weird. And I saw it twice. I saw it twice. So I knew, I knew. That is so fascinating. Because on the show called the telepathy tapes, I don't know if you've been listening to it. They have Well, And I also went to seminary of a Masters of Divinity and so you know, One of the classes I took was on death and dying and, And the latest literature and research people are really, It is very common for people approaching that threshold of death to have spirits and people who have passed ancestors come and visit. So they have, You know, Science was like, Oh, This is all fake. They're making it up. But then there have been other things happening that are now starting to prove that no, It does look like people, But then, I listened to this episode, There's a man who's been working with people with dementia and Alzheimer's forever. And he has discovered it's quite fascinating that people, Some people, When they're locked, You know, In their bodies near the end, Because you really are with advanced dementia, And they can travel and leave their bodies to go communicate with someone or be in someone's dream or go and do some something outside their body or give messages, You know, Inside dreams or in. And so it's been utterly fascinating. My father just passed in April from dementia. And what they're discovering is so fascinating. So I hear the story about your father and I think, Oh, He was going on a walk. That was him, You know, Potentially, But going on a walk and you have the gift to see him. So, Um, I don't know. That's just a thought. I'm not telling you what to think or how to perceive, But this episode, Yeah, It might be interesting for you to listen to a few of those episodes because, Um, The show is kind of blowing my mind. And I was like, Finally, Finally, Things are, You know, Making sense. Let me ask you, So when you. . . What is your sense of why they're still here? Is it different for everyone? Have they just not made the transition, These spirits? Or are they kind of locked here? Maybe you don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I think it's different. Like when I was in Salem, You know, Again, Salem's got a lot of funky energy. But I remember going and feeling this dark, Dark, Dark spirit. And I was just like, I couldn't I couldn't go near the fence line. I was like, I can't. And so I I gave my camera to a friend. I was like, Take a photo. He's like, There's nothing there. I said, Take a photo. And so the outline was of a skull and a cape. So you have a spirit present. But at the same time, It's like Are they always there? Are they coming to say hi? What's the story? I don't know. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know any of that. And it's not the same. A world that I'm really familiar with on, You know, You would certainly know far better than I ever could. I'm fascinated by it though. And, You know, Some people can see everything and some people. See nothing. I'm addicted to paranormal shows. I mean, I am addicted. It's like I watch them all. And I want to go I want to go hang out with these groups. But um, Yeah, I take my camera out, You know, And I have night vision on my camera. I am that nerd. Sounds like a show in the making, A paranormal show. There's so many out there, They're far more expert at what this is than I am. I don't have the bells and whistles, But. It's fascinating, But then at the flip side of that, It's like. . . Is it disrespectful? Yeah. Is it just, You know, I'm absolutely against going into cemeteries. I think that is insanely disrespectful. It's like, Stop it. Stop it. Yeah, But I am fascinated by some of the some of the things like you see on the battlefields and you know, Different environments, You know, Like, What is the one? The crazy asylum, You know, Pennhurst, You know, When you're looking at Pennhurst, When you're looking at what was when the one in Ohio too is a reform school and. Let me just. . . I'm just. Curious. Yeah. I'm really curious what Are they in a loop? Are they visitors? What? I don't know. I don't know. I had an experience in Portland. Where I went into a shoe store. It was a low-rent shoe store, Let's just put it that way, In one of the very, Very old buildings, Original buildings along the river. And I. Was in that store for 30 seconds, Maybe two minute when I just felt my skin crawl. I wanted to start crying. I was so deeply uncomfortable and horrified. I mean, I had to leave immediately. And I found out later that right across the street from that store was where they had dug a mass grave for Chinese immigrants who had worked on the railroad. Oh my god. They were in the process of creating at that time. It's there now, But they were in the process of creating a memorial honoring those people. But I think my perception was that it was what I walked into was like this collection of energy, Almost like a, I walked into this bubble or the, If you want to use the word plasma, Because that, You know, You walk in and it's a collection of grief and sorrow and horror. It's like, It's like it was a haunting, But it was, Large and it was emotion. And so I understood it after I realized what was directly across the street. And then, Of course, You have water, Right? The river is right there. So it's attenuating everything. It's making everything more attenuated. I thought, What is our responsibility? You know, Sure, They can do the memorial. Yes, They can put up a memorial and honor. But I just thought those ghosts, That's not going to shift or change this energy or help them in any way? And how do we do that? How do we? I don't know. It's it's the question is so vast. Yeah, It's a big question. But I also think that there are different belief system. I mean, When you're looking at, You know, We you know, That with the parallel universe, Are we just on a different plane? Like there are levels of planes. Yeah. So in there, What we think is ghosts, They're kind of like the multiverse if you're an Avengers fan, You know, Which nerd girl. I'm here. So are they in a different multiverse that are living in the same space at a different time? I mean, There's, It's mind blowing on different ways to look at this. And then then you have episodes where you feel like, Are they seeking help? You know, Are they Do they want us to rectify something? I don't know. I don't know. I just remember. You know, Even the Queen Mary, Even the Queen Mary, My mom and I, Which is very haunted if you've been to the Queen Mary, It's crazy haunted, But I love it. It's just. . . It's my calling. I'm just, I just gravitate towards these places. Um, And actually my mom wanted to go and she's highly sensitive. And she was like, Uh, And we were down the engine room and she was like, I don't like, I don't like, I gotta go. Cause it was so heavy for her. Whereas I didn't feel that heaviness, But I was physically grabbed by the ankle. So what she felt, What she felt, You know, In the surroundings, I felt physically. And so I think the approach is different. And it's like, What, What was the purpose of reaching out in that way? And we found out later that that a sailor had died by a horrible, Horrible death by fire or something in the engine room. I mean, There was a story behind it. So we thought, Okay, Well, Maybe he's reaching out, But. So the big question is, I have not a clue. I have not a clue. And maybe that's the mystery of the universe. It's like, Are we in a multiverse? Are they sending messages? I just don't know. Because you have some of the stuff that goes back. For thousands of years. Japan is covered in ghosts. If you know anything about Japan, I mean. Hovering ghosts. They're everywhere. It's crazy. It's everywhere. I don't know. Somebody wiser than me has to come up with that answer, Because I got nothing. Thanks everyone for listening to my conversation with the brilliant Anita. I really am so inspired by the work that Anita is doing in the world. She's engendering discussion around aspects of war and wartime in service that many of us would rather not look at. I want to thank everyone for listening. I'm so grateful to you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. So please, If you would consider leaving a rating, Or writing a review, I'd be so grateful. I'd be so thankful. I am thankful. So yeah, It means so much. Thank you for listening. And here's my one request. Be like Anita. I mean, Honestly, What can I say about this incredible human being? I mean, Adjectives are just not enough. She's funny. She's wise. She's grounded. She's so humble. But also, She's unstoppable. She's brave. I mean, She kind of started her life her adventure with the documentary, Not really knowing what she was going to get into. And I've started projects like that. And so I urge you to do the same, Like Anita. Begin something. Begin something. Put your foot out the door. I mean, You don't know where it's gonna lead, But what kind of healing or beauty it's going to bring the rest of us. So be brave like Anita, Be smart like Anita, Be inspired like Anita, And open the door and take the first step outside. To the new adventure that I know is waiting. For all of you.