Articles
The Angels Heard My Call
Life After Cancer
Time for His Heart to Heal
Rebecca
Feeling The Spirits
By Courtney Macavinta - Sacramento Bee Staff - 1996
Just as dusk begins to settle over Sacramento Old City Cemetery, Nancy Matz says she feels something. A lonely little girl named Lila is brushing up against her, longing for attention. Matz gently pats the child's head.
About 200 people linger among the prominent tombstones at the front gates of the cemetery, and watch. Lila is the first spirit Matz has introduced them to this night during her popular psychic tour of the graveyard.
Matz hurriedly invites those around her to experience Lila's energy, described as a tingling, electrical charge. Volunteers lunge forward to touch the air next to Matz. Some shout out that they feel something, while others sulk away disappointed, feeling unconnected to the spirit world.
This is the second year Matz, of Pollock Pines, has conducted the tour for the Old City Cemetery Committee as a fund-raiser for restoration projects and other programs. Among the attendees there are skeptics, believers and the curious. Most including the youngsters seem unafraid. Instead they appear tickled and intrigued while they diligently shadow Matz through the grounds as she sees spirits and senses mourners' emotions.
Matz is not trembling, preaching or passing out like the psychics on TV. The daughter and granddaughter of psychics, she personable and funny, telling stories and describing what she sees.
Like a grieving drunk perched on a stone wall, unknown to the woman who was sitting "on" him. Or a wealthy man originally from Ohio, State Controller Edward P. Colgan (1856-1906), who is wearing black pants and suspenders and eating up all the attention. Then there is the handsome couple in the middle of a pathway. When the lady gets more attention than her companion, he leans up against a headstone and pouts.
These are some of the spirits the crowd feverishly tries to touch, sense and even talk to on the tour. Herb Terry's wife, Armida Campa, got him to come in from Antelope for the tour. After seeing "The Exorcist" years ago he says he wasn't anxious to learn anything more about spirits and the like. Amid his uncertainty, he says he felt Lila.
"It feels like when I was in the Marine Corp," he says. "You had to hold your hands out straight in front of you at attention and you could feel all your nerve endings."
Campa was receptive all along. "I believe when a person dies there's still energy left over," she says.
Also in the crowd are four 9-year-old Sacramento girls who attend not for the spirits but for extra credits.
Melissa Harman says her teacher at Mariemont Elementary School gives out a free "A" for completing a tour.
"I've been three times already," Harman says. "I like the stories. It's interesting."
Going to the Old City Cemetery around Halloween isn't the only time spirits can be found. Matz says they're everywhere, everyday. And they want to be recognized she says.
"They're around us all the time. Any time of year is a good time to learn about our true nature," she says. "We are pure energy: we've only borrowed the flesh,"
If you're looking for a fright you won't find it on her tour. She has learned to turn off her senses when she wants to and often shuts out negative energy or trauma.
The planners of the event don't want to scare people either.
John Bettencourt, tour and special events coordinator for the Old City Cemetery Committee, says Matz rarely gets into anything gruesome. He co-guides the tour with her and fills in the sightings with detailed, historical accounts of those buried. His tales were often more spooky than hers, as there are many murders and suicide victims among the 30,000 graves.
"We don't get into the ghoulish part of Halloween or wear costumes," he says. "It's a historical viewpoint of the cemetery."
The Old Sacramento Cemetery has some of the most distinguished "residents" in all of Northern California Cemeteries. John Sutter to the prior mentioned congressman to the earliest pioneer's, one of the earliest stones is an 1865 death date. John Bettencourt was very insistent on accuracy and asked that he and Nancy do pre-tours, when Nancy would walk up and down the isles of stones and tell him what she saw and would describe the details of the story she heard. He would research and not tell her of her accuracy until the beginning of the planned tour, there in front of everyone he would embellish on each story.
Copyright@ 1996 The Sacramento Bee
Foot Note: The tours ended in 2001 after six years with the death of John Bettencourt. These six years conducted five to seven tours per season with 150 to 200 people attending each of these tours.
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Psychic's visions lead to the stories behind the tombstones
By Jennifer Kerr, Associated Press writer
The grieving man in the dark clothes and hat sits slumped over on the wooden cemetery bench, still distraught over the death of his 16-year-old son.
The youth drowned in the Sacramento River 133 years ago.
"He's depressed," says Nancy Matz, pointing to the bench. "He's a nice-looking man."
She invites the men and women gathered around her, staring raptly at the bench, to reach out and gently feel his warm presence.
He didn't mind. He, too, had died -- many years ago.
Ms. Matz is a psychic who leads a popular tour through the Sacramento Old City Cemetery, a historic California burying ground that dates back to 1849 and is the resting place for 25,000 to 30,000 souls, give or take some due to faulty 19th-century records.
The group with Ms. Matz on this hot summer night are people of all ages, but more women than men. Some are clearly believers who eagerly step forward to touch the spirit, while others observe with amused smiles.
Ms. Matz, 48, from Pollock Pines, Calif., worked for a telephone company in an analytical job until six years ago, when she says she accepted her psychic abilities. She says she is an intuitive medium or clairvoyant.
"I spent all my life wondering what in the world was wrong with me," she tells the group. "Why didn't people see what I saw? Now that I've accepted it, I love it."
The Old City Cemetery Committee holds more prosaic tours on most weekends from May through September, but its special tours draw the largest crowds.
Ms. Matz has been leading periodic psychic tours for the committee for three years. She also participates in the committee's Moonlight Tours just before Halloween, when many participants come in costume.
The psychic tours, which cost $5, are usually sold out. There is a maximum of 150 participants.
Several days before the tours, Ms. Matz walks around the cemetery with John Bettencourt, tour coordinator for the committee. Mr. Bettencourt then hits the books, learning the stories about the spirits Ms. Matz says she senses roaming around the cemetery.
There are many colorful residents. The cemetery was established in 1849, with a donation of 10 acres from John Sutter, the pioneer who built Sutter's Fort and owned the foothills sawmill where gold was discovered in 1848.
His son, John Sutter Jr., who planned much of the city of Sacramento, was buried in the cemetery in 1897.
So was Hardin Bigelow, who built the city's first flood-control levee in 1850. Mr. Bigelow was elected mayor, but died six months later of cholera.
Mark Hopkins, one of the "Big Four" who built the Central Pacific Railroad, is entombed under a 350-ton red granite sarcophagus.
One visitor this night is Lavon, a woman from suburban Antelope, Calif., who says she doesn't have a last name. Why is she taking the tour?
"I had to," she says, "because I'm going to activate John Sutter (Jr.) in his 100-year resurrection."
Ginger, another visitor, says, "I've always been fascinated with cemeteries. I go to ghost tours and cemeteries."
The first stop is the bench where sits the grieving man. As believing members of the group touch his essence, Mr. Bettencourt tells the story of the teen buried beneath a modest marker:
Melchi Cox Gray was one of four children who moved with their parents from Iowa to California in 1849. His mother died in childbirth. His father, the man on the bench, was a circuit-riding preacher.
In June 1864, 16-year-old Melchi, not a good swimmer, tried to cross the Sacramento River. He didn't make it.
Nearby, Ms. Matz says she senses an angry man, balding, about 50-56, who had been killed in a fight.
He was probably Van Curtin Dodge, Mr. Bettencourt says. Mr. Dodge was killed on March 22, 1902, in a gunfight with a younger man on the Yolo-Sacramento railroad bridge. The younger man had impregnated Mr. Dodge's daughter and refused to marry her. Mr. Dodge had lain in wait for the man to try to force him to do the right thing, but lost the gunfight.
Later, Ms. Matz says she senses an accident, with blocks falling down and several people killed.
Mr. Bettencourt points to a tall memorial shaft for Silus Perry, who was one of seven people who died on Nov. 18, 1876, at Moore's Opera House. The opera house -- really a bawdy burlesque theater -- collapsed when overenthusiastic patrons began stomping their feet to get the show started.
Ms. Matz says that on one of her earlier visits she met the ghost of a volunteer firefighter who was decapitated in 1858 when his horse-drawn engine rushed under a low railroad trestle. He was hanging out around his grave, she says, waiting for his wife and children, who were buried elsewhere.
"He was so glad to see someone recognized him," she says.
"I had a serious talk with him. I told him, 'You can't wait around any longer.' "
When the latest tour goes past the volunteer fireman's plot, she notices that he is gone.
As an evening breeze comes up, Ms. Matz says she senses more spirits.
"I see children who died, a lot of water everywhere and reeds," she says.
Mr. Bettencourt points to a small double tombstone announcing the deaths of Willie Weaver, 14, and his 11-year-old brother, George. The boys had been picking crops on Aug. 30, 1883, and stopped at the river to cool down.
Willie was caught in a submerged hole. George tried to help him, but both went under.
Throughout the walk, Ms. Matz says she sees random spirits, many of whom appear very interested in particular individuals in the group. She says a blonde girl spirit seemed to like a woman in a long blue dress.
"I felt her earlier," the woman says.
Ms. Matz says one spirit no longer had a humanlike form, but was shaped more like a ball.
"It's almost as though he's forgotten what he looks like," she says.
A woman reaches out to feel. "It's running in all different directions," she says.
"It's in a circle," adds a young woman with black fingernail polish and lipstick.
"Now it's coming to me," says the first woman.
The cemetery tours are a hit. But Ms. Matz says it isn't necessary to go to a cemetery to see spirits.
"The mall is just as spooky," she says.
"The spirits are everywhere. There are things around us that we have a hard time even understanding."
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Photo by The Associated Press
Psychic Nancy Matz poses in the Old Sacramento City Cemetery, where she leads periodic psychic tours.
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Asking for Guidance
by Nancy Matz
In the reality of what we call life, each one of us wants to accept total responsibility for our actions, and we call this our "Free Will". Every one of us had a childhood; hopefully your childhood was guided and nurtured in a loving environment. With a growing consciousness of impending adulthood, we stood with our heads up and stated to the world, "I am ready -- give me freedom to start my life as an adult!" No matter where we walked into society, we learned about life, the hardships and the rewards.
Most of you reading this article, and many others outside of the metaphysical world, have also learned that we can ask for divine help to gently guide our lives; show us the essons we ar to learn, and teach us the passionbfor life. The first time we asked for help, whether in a fit of anger, weeping, or out of sincerity, we hoped that a God force did exist and there might be someone listening. At that time did you ask with a whisper, a shout or quietly in your mind for personal help or guidance? During that moment that you turned over your trust and faith to a greater force, you learned one of life's greatest lessons -- belief!
The Angels Heard My Call
Good News Magazine - Nancy Matz Winter 1997
We need to create magic every day. We should strive to be alive each moment of our lives. How many people do you know that get lost in their work and life? We all do. We all get caught up in the trials of maintaining our lifestyles, relationships and families. Sometimes, we lose perspective on why we are here. Shouldn't we live each moment enlightened, letting in the light, and accepting help from our angels?
June 27, 1997
What a week! What a month! Free time off? What is free-time off? I'm pooped! I love my career because helping people makes me feel wonderful! I must have asked God for this work and I'm grateful for this opportunity. My intuitive work is rewarding, and all- consuming at times. Of course, it's OK to take time off to reward ourselves for our efforts. Today, I chose to give myself a catch-up day. I started this morning, already tired from a very busy month. One day off, with many thoughts of how to prioritize chores around my house in so-many hours. It's overwhelming, I thought, pouring a 3rd cup of coffee to get my brain in motion. I reached for yesterday's mail and picked up an art supply catalog, remembering how much I once like to draw and paint. Art pieces placed around the house reminded me of the many compliments I've received in the past. One thought went to another, and I quickly forget about my chores. My thoughts became "I need to start drawing the visions I'm seeing for my clients", thinking of my mom who lives in Portland, Oregon.
I picked up the phone. And called, wanting to be put back "on purpose." I needed to touch base with my mom, who loves me just "because." She retired a year ago as a professional artist in her working career, and I was thinking of her because of this art magazine. She reminded me of a painting that I did in 1974, of myself running on a beach. She then said, "You should start drawing again."
My angels were at work, creating synchronicity, because as I was thinking of drawing and setting up an area to start painting again. Mom said, "How interesting you should call now, I was reviewing a book on how to start painting, '11 Secrets of Artistic Success' written by Greg Albert.
I'm really getting excited with painting again and creating magic in my life. The angels knew I would need a book just like that right now! She reminded me that just being alive was truly magic. That even at her age, her reference to being retired, to find our on-purpose was magic. I said that doing what brings happiness to our lives, brings purpose, if we want to truly live and experience continual magic in life.
Mom reminded me of Grandma Moses who started painting at 75 and continued until her death at 100. Look at all the magic she continually created for herself and others. Grandma Moses truly understood what being "on purpose" meant.
Sometimes we try too hard to find our purpose for our lives. If we relax and allow our angles to work, they will direct us to contact the ones who will give us that little push, and the art of synchronicity will happen.
We humans need and want to know that we are not alone and that the angels do hear our call. In a moment of true invitation they will hear. We need not shout, complain or speak of not being heard. When they give us a thought, it is up to us to follow through.
Thank you my dear angels for hearing me.
Life After Cancer
An Inspiring Story - by Bob Cox
Good News Magazine
"I was only 39 when I got it. They said I had it for 6 years. I had 2 types, the slow moving and the fast moving. I knew there was something wrong with me and if I had waited six months later it would have been all through my body. I knew there was something wrong, but I didn't know how bad it was."
What "it" was, was cancer. How bad it was for Nancy Matz nearly 11 years ago was bad. Her condition would require 3 surgeries. Nancy was told by her doctor that she had malignant breast cancer and her best hope for survival was immediate surgery. After losing her grandfather to cancer, she had a powerful fear of the disease. "I always associated cancer with death. The first things I thought about were 'I wonder how bad it is and how bad it's going to get.' Disbelief was probably the first thought. My second thought was 'I wonder how bad it's going to get.' I had it worse than they thought, so I was put back in the hospital for a second surgery. So, when they told me the second time I'd have to go back, that was a very frightening thing. At that time, I had gone through a lot of personal crises. I was taking care of my blind grandmother, and I had a child I was going through "tough love" with. So, I had a lot of personal traumas around me all the time and I didn't know how I was going to handle the family issues and the cancer. I didn't know how to do that," explained Nancy.
After the surgeries, Nancy had a long recovery period. She took the time to reflect back on her life and seriously examined the choices she made. She looked particularly close at the ones that were creating an inner conflict in her life, choices that perhaps were the cause of her dis-ease, including her 20 year marriage. I don't know if it's because we grew up together ( we met at 15); but I knew we weren't happy in our marriage. When I got cancer, it was almost like God said, "If this is what you want, you can have this. If this is the only way you can change your life, you can have an out." I realized that I didn't want to die," recalled Nancy.
Nancy began her recovery by making some positive new choices. Her first choice was to embrace life after cancer. Next, she set out to resolve her long and unhappy marriage. "I couldn't see that we'd ever divorce. So, did I create this, maybe, I don't want to say for sure because I don't want people with babies who die of cancer feeling that the child created it, heavens no! But in my case, did I create it? I don't know if I didn't," explained Nancy.
"I was so unhappy. We were Catholic and we had a family. I just couldn't see any way of being happy. The cancer motivated me to realize that if I wanted a life, then it was up to me to do something about it. I saw that as a wake-up call, I call it the red brick effect. Like, how big of a brick do you need (to fall on you) to get the point! Well, I got the point that if I wanted to be happy, no one's going to do it for me. The cancer was a way of me saying, ok you can stay there and be miserable, or you can change everything. So I did and 6 months after cancer surgery I left him (her husband)," Nancy said.
The decision for Nancy to leave her husband of 21 years, plus her daughter (19) and son (15) and her home was a supreme test of faith. Faith in her belief that her creator wanted her to lead a life filled with passion, courage and integrity. Faith in not selling out to the fearful advice of well-intentioned friends by staying put in the security of her home. "I walked away from him, the house and the kids. The 19 year-old was already out. The 15 year-old was a heartache, but I had to do something," sighed Nancy.
Above all else, Nancy realized that her absolute first priority was to get well. She knew deep down that if she stayed stuck in her old way of living, that she'd have nothing of value to give to her family or others, except her life. "First off, I took all responsibility for me being unhappy. It wasn't him (her husband) who made me unhappy, it was me that made me unhappy. If you're unhappy in a relationship, you cannot put all the responsibility on your partner. It's your interpretation of the information given to you," stated Nancy.
Time for His Heart to Heal
Good News Magazine by Nancy Matz
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor Airplane Crash
September 24, 1972 - 3:30 PM:
"Get myself together, must hurry to meet Grandma with son at the air show. I can just see him running around the vintage airplane show, and wearing Grandma out. Where are my sunglasses? Darn - left them at Mom's after stopping by to find out where to meet Grandma at the airport. Being only a half block away from Mom's, I'll go back to get my sunglasses." Bruce's thoughts were of his son and Grandma as he drove to meet them.
He had happy thoughts of seeing them at the air show and then going across the street to the ice cream parlor. Bruce was driving east on 35th Ave and came to the railroad crossing at the sewage treatment plant. Within a split second, Bruce saw an older Saber jet skid across the intersection, shearing off a fire hydrant. The Saber had failed its take off, crossing the street at the end of the runway. His eyes then froze upon the scene ahead of him, watching the plane crash into Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor - the time was 4:00 PM.
Bruce could only react - he drove his car into the parking lot and hurriedly parked. Bruce was the second person at the accident scene; the first was an airport firefighter. Together they broke out the parlor's front window; assisting the pilot (who climbed out of his jet) and walked over the tables to safety outside. Time seemed to freeze as Bruce helped the injured to safety.
Unknown to Bruce was a birthday party to be held at the parlor that day. He later found out that a buddy of his was to be there with his family. Among the injured was his friend's badly burned wife, and with the dead - their two children.
His life completely changed that moment.
Present day:
Bruce's life has been full; he married, raised two children, and has managed a couple of successful businesses. He can say he has had only a few life regrets. However - when reflecting back to this accident, this strong, assertive businessman softens his demure voice and with a sense of some invisible guilt says, "I wish I could have done more."
September 1997:
Often a client becomes a friend and refers their friends to have a session with me. Lynn accepted this offer and made an appointment with me. She enjoyed our session together and purchased my book, "Two Worlds". She quickly read my book and was moved
She took the book to work and told her boss (Bruce) that she enjoyed it and offered it to him to read. She told Bruce that I was a psychic, and with an uncertain look of "curiosity" said "Her book? I'll read it". He read the preface and called within a few days. Hesitantly he said, "Your first story, you were almost involved with an airplane crash. That story has brought up so many feelings, I really need to meet you. To have found someone else who was there, can we talk?"
I said that I did psychic counseling - was his interest to have a session or to just visit? I needed to know how to arrange my calendar. (I can only do a few hours a day of psychic reading.) He said he had never talked to anyone like me and was interested in both. We spend the next fifteen minutes attempting to coordinate my calendar and his. We finally settled on Wednesday at 4:00 PM the next week.
On Wednesday at 4:00 PM, we talked of his family, business and friends, and I sensed he enjoyed his first psychic reading. Then we talked about the "accident." I remembered that day 20+ years ago and my reaction after receiving our ice cream at the parlor and within a couple of bites knowing I had to leave. My daughter was strongly protesting us leaving. My sister saying it was probably my being pregnant making me nuts. I told him that my daughter was in the back seat of the 63 VW I was driving and approximately three blocks from the parlor my daughter called out and said there was a "big bang and lots of smoke" visible from the back window. Then I admitted, "I wish I could have known why I needed to leave. I have had a feeling of guilt for so long." I went on, "I have come to believe that the saddest of all events are part of a master plan." We parted that day, our spirits connected by a special event from the past.
On Friday, while at the office, I was reviewing the clients coming that day and Sunday. I reflected back to my session with Bruce and the day we chose to meet and was startled. On Sunday, I collected myself and made a call to Bruce. To his answering machine I said, "Sorry to have missed you. I need to tell you something. The appointment you set with me to talk about the airplane accident was September 24, at 4:00 PM, twenty-five years to the day and hour of the Farrell's accident. I think your angels want you to know they are taking care of you and feel it is time for your heart to heal. The best to you, Bruce."
"What am I doing In this body?"
The Story of Baby Rebecca
Written by Nancy Matz - for Rebecca
Late August, 1997: Laura has been a friend and client for over four years. She called with anxiety for her sister Aljean and asked if she would be all right in the upcoming birthing of her second child. What was concerning her was the possibility of a larger baby and that the child was already a week overdue. I did not feel stress of a problem delivery and told her so.
September 2, 1997: The baby is here! Rebecca weighed in at over 10 lbs.! She was a very angry baby and cried so hard that she ruptured the sunt valve! Laura explained that this was the valve that the unborn baby has reversing the blood that is changed in accordance with the needs that breathing would take.
Late November 1997: Laura called to announce an upcoming Christmas party and I was invited. December 20th was free on my calendar and I accepted. We usually talk every day and on the day of the invitation I asked how her sister and the new baby were doing. She said the baby was really growing fast and that she already was the size of a six-month-old.
December 20, 1997: After an unusually long workday, I was really looking forward to the Christmas party at Laura's mom's house. Her mom, Grace, has a lovely home in Granite Bay that's filled with wonderful Christmas decor. I was tired and after having met some people, I found a comfortable place to stand and sip coffee while enjoying the decorations.
I was very happy to meet Laura's mom and was looking forward to meeting the new baby Rebecca and her mom Aljean. Shortly after finding my quiet place to sip my coffee, a family of four came through the front door. After all the hellos were said, Laura proudly introduced Aljean's family to me. The three-year-old happily ran to Grandma Grace and made happy noises of wanting this and that. Momma Aljean disappeared and attempted to lay Rebecca down after changing her. The child clearly was out of sorts, and Aljean thought better of this and brought her into the front room to see the guests.
I was standing quietly, watching the guests talk to each other, when Aljean walked in and stopped next to me. I turned and noticed Aljean was holding this unusually large baby, three-month old Rebecca. Rebecca was being held so that she was looking at me. I smiled at her and noticed how intensely she was observing me. She started talking to me in an unusually strong baby talk. My mind filled with anger and disbelief, pictures exploding in my mind of a life as a man from a foreign culture. "What am I doing here," she wailed! Did I hear right! Again, "I don't remember being born, I don't want to be here in this body!" I know that the entire room disappeared for me and all I could do was look at this angry person. "Do you know why I am here? I am forgetting my lifetime of before. Did my family come with me?" How was I to talk to her, my body sent to her an invisible hug and a soft feeling of "It's ok, you are wanted." Was that enough of an answer?
Just then, Laura walked up to me and asked why was I looking so surprised. I pulled her aside and briefly told her what happened and said I'd tell her more tomorrow on the phone.
As promised, we talked on the phone the next day and I gave her ALL the details. She was as surprised as I was in telling her Rebecca's story. I told her I wanted to interview the child and see if more information would come to me. Laura attempted to set up time for me to get together with Aljean and Rebecca. Much to my dismay, several attempts and each time something stopped us from getting together.
My belief in God and of a divine order of events has helped me to understand that if I were to have more information, I would have seen Rebecca immediately. I have given this situation a lot of thought. In the time that I have been a counselor, a belief in reincarnation did not come easily to me. What if I had immediate access to my last past life, to know I was born again and have karmic lessons with past loved ones? What would happen if I had immediate knowledge of wrongs done by me or to me? How would I react to my life? Would it prove to be as valuable? As for Rebecca, has she been born to her family? Or is she to create the karmic family?
Again, I have learned a wondrous lesson; the divine order of the universe is again perfect. For those of us that have a need we can seek out those to assist us in finding out past lives-if it helps us to learn our lessons. But most of all for the rest of us who desired a journey with purity of innocents, we are given the gift of forgetfulness at birth. Thank you God.
nancy@nancymatz.com
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