Never say never . . .
If I'm really honest with myself, I'd have to say that I didn't want to return to giving readings. The hiatus for me felt liberating because I wanted fewer responsibilities elsewhere in order to take care of my children. I felt pulled in too many directions. But things change. People change. Ghosts pop up in your dreams.
I ended the hiatus today with a scheduled reading for a longstanding client. During the reading, I remembered a dream in which a an elderly female ghost told me: "She needs to know she's dying." I thought, "Wha'?"
My client needed to know that an elderly aunt would pass soon. I hate passing on that kind of information, especially since it can be so vague. Elderly people always pass on! But the ghost -- of a stern disposition -- herself was elderly, with bone-straight, shoulder-length grey hair.
We had a good laugh about the nature of that kind of communication, the client and I, and I raised my voice slightly: "It wouldn't be so bad if I could just have A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION." I looked quickly around me, hoping someone might take a hint.
It brought back the humour to my memory. It brought back the freakin' strangeness of it all. It brought back one more thing in the form of my client's question:
"Do you have any idea how you affect other people's lives?"
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
From Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost:
`My dear sir,' said Mr. Otis, `I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have brought you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. It is said to be completely efficacious upon one application, and there are several testimonials to that effect on the wrapper from some of our most eminent native divines. I shall leave it here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to supply you with more should you require it.' With these words the United States Minister laid the bottle down on a marble table, and, closing his door, retired to rest.
For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in natural indignation; then, dashing the bottle violently upon the polished floor, he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow groans, and emitting a ghastly green light. Just, however, as he reached the top of the great oak staircase, a door was flung open, two little white-robed figures appeared, and a large pillow whizzed past his head! There was evidently no time to be lost, so, hastily adopting the Fourth Dimension of Space as a means of escape, he vanished through the wainscoting, and the house became quite quiet.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Friday, May 08, 2009
Freaky Friday I
The basement was the worst part of our old house. It was old; the stone sweated. The floors were cold and bare and the only time we used this part of the house was to do laundry.
Personally, if I needed to get clothes, I would run down, race to the dryer, and get back upstairs as quickly as I could.
My sister -- six years younger than I -- had a different attitude. While she found it a creepy place, her friends wanted to play there and she ended up spending a lot more time in the basement than I ever would.
(When we first moved in, as I've explained, there were many paranormal events. I remember, especially in the early years, that my stepfather and mother would wake us up with their conversations. They heard loud, heavy footsteps starting at the bottom of the stairs and going all the way to the top, just outside the master bedroom. I heard them, too, but, more often than this, I heard my parents talking about the sound.)
One night, I woke up because -- two floors beneath! -- I heard sounds coming from the basement. It sounded like heavy wood hitting concrete or stone. As my parents and I sat and listened, we heard chop, chop, chopping sounds followed immediately by a hollow-sounding thud (wood on stone). This happened over and over and over.
My mother and I ventured -- on tiptoes, for some reason -- down to the kitchen and approached the basement entrance. The sounds stopped. This happened several times.
When I look back, I shake my head and I think how fortunate I am that other people experienced these events at the same time as I did . . .
The basement was the worst part of our old house. It was old; the stone sweated. The floors were cold and bare and the only time we used this part of the house was to do laundry.
Personally, if I needed to get clothes, I would run down, race to the dryer, and get back upstairs as quickly as I could.
My sister -- six years younger than I -- had a different attitude. While she found it a creepy place, her friends wanted to play there and she ended up spending a lot more time in the basement than I ever would.
(When we first moved in, as I've explained, there were many paranormal events. I remember, especially in the early years, that my stepfather and mother would wake us up with their conversations. They heard loud, heavy footsteps starting at the bottom of the stairs and going all the way to the top, just outside the master bedroom. I heard them, too, but, more often than this, I heard my parents talking about the sound.)
One night, I woke up because -- two floors beneath! -- I heard sounds coming from the basement. It sounded like heavy wood hitting concrete or stone. As my parents and I sat and listened, we heard chop, chop, chopping sounds followed immediately by a hollow-sounding thud (wood on stone). This happened over and over and over.
My mother and I ventured -- on tiptoes, for some reason -- down to the kitchen and approached the basement entrance. The sounds stopped. This happened several times.
When I look back, I shake my head and I think how fortunate I am that other people experienced these events at the same time as I did . . .
Sunday, May 03, 2009
I grew up with 'em . . .
We gave my younger daughter a very large, wooden, Victorian-style dollhouse. It's as tall as she is. The girls love it.
It reminds me of our old family home. We knew the house was haunted -- all of us -- the day that we moved in. At first, we heard footsteps that would wake us all up in the middle of the night. Eventually, it transpired that each of us heard the patter, and the laughter, of children on the front porch and on the stairs in the foyer. Over time, we were able to put names to the, er, faces via the city's registry.
Anyway, the most striking aspect of the children's presence was that it could be heard -- at exactly the same volume -- no matter where a person was in the house. It could even be heard above the din of televisions and stereos.
I heard running, as did the others, and the incredibly faint strains of "Ring Around the Roses."
Frankly, I was still more than a little frightened by the idea of disclosing my experiences to the rest of the family even though we all knew that the others knew about the running on the porch.
One shadowy afternoon, my mother was napping in her room and I was in mine. I heard her call me.
"Yeh, Mum?"
"Will you turn off the TV for me?" My mother didn't open her eyes.
"Oh, you don't want it on anymore?"
"I didn't want it on in the first place. It just came on again." This had been going on since my grandmother had died a few weeks before.
As I was talking to her and turning off the television, I asked her if she'd heard anyone.
"You mean the children singing?"
"Yes!" I was excited. I was relieved. This was good. "What song do YOU hear?"
"Ring Around the Roses."
My sister had heard it, too. And so began the dialogue that, for so many years, nurtured my intuition and perception.
We gave my younger daughter a very large, wooden, Victorian-style dollhouse. It's as tall as she is. The girls love it.
It reminds me of our old family home. We knew the house was haunted -- all of us -- the day that we moved in. At first, we heard footsteps that would wake us all up in the middle of the night. Eventually, it transpired that each of us heard the patter, and the laughter, of children on the front porch and on the stairs in the foyer. Over time, we were able to put names to the, er, faces via the city's registry.
Anyway, the most striking aspect of the children's presence was that it could be heard -- at exactly the same volume -- no matter where a person was in the house. It could even be heard above the din of televisions and stereos.
I heard running, as did the others, and the incredibly faint strains of "Ring Around the Roses."
Frankly, I was still more than a little frightened by the idea of disclosing my experiences to the rest of the family even though we all knew that the others knew about the running on the porch.
One shadowy afternoon, my mother was napping in her room and I was in mine. I heard her call me.
"Yeh, Mum?"
"Will you turn off the TV for me?" My mother didn't open her eyes.
"Oh, you don't want it on anymore?"
"I didn't want it on in the first place. It just came on again." This had been going on since my grandmother had died a few weeks before.
As I was talking to her and turning off the television, I asked her if she'd heard anyone.
"You mean the children singing?"
"Yes!" I was excited. I was relieved. This was good. "What song do YOU hear?"
"Ring Around the Roses."
My sister had heard it, too. And so began the dialogue that, for so many years, nurtured my intuition and perception.
Friday, May 01, 2009
I'm BACK! And Freaky Friday is here.
Well, I didn't actually go anywhere. But, after a 2.5 year hiatus, I'm booking reading appointments again.
It wasn't just burnout that caused me to want to stop that long while back: Having children, requiring childcare, etc. all played a part. Also, I was worried about the stigmatizing effect it might have on my children. But, I've worked it all out and, if I'm very discreet, it can be done.
The last thing I want to teach my children is to be uncomfortable with who they are; but, let's face it, childhood can be difficult where peer relationships are concerned.
My intention is to post daily but, additionally, I want to post weekly about a psychic or ghostly experience.
Let's start now: we'll make it Freaky Friday.
Recently, I had been hearing cupboards door slamming, people walking around upstairs in the evening and during the day. I called out (for I'm a lazy psychic) and asked, "Scully? Is that you?" or "Girls, are you running around up there?"
Of course, Scully was watching a video on his laptop with the HEADPHONES on and didn't even hear me, let alone budge from his comfy spot. And, the girls? They were asleep each time it happened.
No, I didn't think I was losing my mind. I didn't think this each time I felt a presence or when I heard a gravelly voice call my name.
Then, a day after the last event and week after the first, I received a phone call from my sister:
"I'm sorry to disturb you this late, but I just had to tell you! (Terri) died!"
I was stunned, actually. I'd known her for about 33 years. She'd babysat us daily. I'd grown up with her own children.
Then, a phone call to my mother:
"She died last Wednesday, a massive coronary."
"Oh, between 10 and 11 pm?"
"Yes, that's when they believe it happened."
Well, that's when Terri had started visiting me. Slamming my cupboards though? Let's just say, I'm not the most organized psychic nor am I the best housekeeper. She was organized, immaculate. In my own way, I'll miss her.
Well, I didn't actually go anywhere. But, after a 2.5 year hiatus, I'm booking reading appointments again.
It wasn't just burnout that caused me to want to stop that long while back: Having children, requiring childcare, etc. all played a part. Also, I was worried about the stigmatizing effect it might have on my children. But, I've worked it all out and, if I'm very discreet, it can be done.
The last thing I want to teach my children is to be uncomfortable with who they are; but, let's face it, childhood can be difficult where peer relationships are concerned.
My intention is to post daily but, additionally, I want to post weekly about a psychic or ghostly experience.
Let's start now: we'll make it Freaky Friday.
Recently, I had been hearing cupboards door slamming, people walking around upstairs in the evening and during the day. I called out (for I'm a lazy psychic) and asked, "Scully? Is that you?" or "Girls, are you running around up there?"
Of course, Scully was watching a video on his laptop with the HEADPHONES on and didn't even hear me, let alone budge from his comfy spot. And, the girls? They were asleep each time it happened.
No, I didn't think I was losing my mind. I didn't think this each time I felt a presence or when I heard a gravelly voice call my name.
Then, a day after the last event and week after the first, I received a phone call from my sister:
"I'm sorry to disturb you this late, but I just had to tell you! (Terri) died!"
I was stunned, actually. I'd known her for about 33 years. She'd babysat us daily. I'd grown up with her own children.
Then, a phone call to my mother:
"She died last Wednesday, a massive coronary."
"Oh, between 10 and 11 pm?"
"Yes, that's when they believe it happened."
Well, that's when Terri had started visiting me. Slamming my cupboards though? Let's just say, I'm not the most organized psychic nor am I the best housekeeper. She was organized, immaculate. In my own way, I'll miss her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
