MOVIES - Feb. 24, 1987

Actress Shirley MacLaine, 59, drew a gathering of 500 people who paid $300 each over the weekend for a Seattle seminar on human potential and the so-called New Age movement. The presentation was Mac-Laine’s third this year. She said she plans to conduct seven more before June and use the proceeds to build a spiritual center, the details of which she would not disclose. The seminar covered many of the topics portrayed in “Out on a Limb,” her book and recent TV movie about her experiences, such as the discovery of the “higher self” and connections with past lives, spiritual entities and even extraterrestrials. MacLaine described the higher self as “the spiritual self within, the knowing voice, the divine spark, the God force, the real you” that she said can be visualized in any form.