spiritualism
Things That Go Bump in the Night
I have never been one to base my beliefs on popular opinion, rumors, or superstition. My beliefs regarding the supernatural or paranormal come solely from my personal experiences, as well the trustworthy accounts of my immediate family. So, if I tell you there are indeed ‘things that go bump in the night,’ you can be sure that I am speaking of personal experience.
When I was a little girl, for example, my father was the first person to bring the supernatural to my attention with a story of his own paranormal experience back in 1946. His story was the first to whet my appetite for investigating the paranormal and the mystical.
The Second World War had just ended, and my dad was only 20 years old at the time. The United Kingdom was still recovering from the horrendous aftermath. As a result, people were seldom out and about after dark. In fact, from what my father told me, there was not much socializing in those days and at night the streets were mostly deserted.
One night, after my dad had walked my mom (his future wife) back to her house, he decided to take a shortcut to his grandmother’s place, where he was living at the time. It was around 11pm and the short route took him past the graveyard on a street called Columbus Ravine. It was here that he saw the strange sight of a lady walking up the road in what appeared to be a Victorian costume.
“That is odd,” he thought. “A woman out alone at this time of night and dressed like that? Maybe she attended a fancy-dress party?”
He did not want to alarm her. After all, she was all by herself, it was dark out, and there was no one else around. To put her mind at ease, he therefore thought it polite to greet her.
Music Reaches Beyond The Grave
Can the dearly departed hear our music? Can we communicate with the other side through music? I am sure this is possible, as I have personally experienced evidence of it. Music can indeed influence the energy of a spirit or ghost.
When I was a little boy, my mother would always play the hymn Onward Christian Soldiers for us on Sundays, because we were still too young to go to church. Before she passed away she asked to visit her grave site every year on her birthday and play that song for her and I have been doing this every year since her departure from this life.
In those days my dad would go to church alone, while mom stayed home with us. But he was not as much into Christian music and hymns as my mother was. He was putting in many long hours as a fire fighter for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and he usually had hard time keeping his eyes open during services. The only real reason he went to church was to make my mother happy.
Dad did however enjoy the music played by the marching band before every Ohio State football game. We would have to listen to the music with him and it seemed like ‘forever’ for us kids. But we had no choice. The Ohio State marching band are after all the pride of the Buckeyes!
In those days my dad still owned an old-fashioned record player with a needle and a pressed vinyl record. His wish was that once he was no longer with us someday we would rememeber him by playing that very same marching band music. After he passed away, we had a major problem finding and ultimately playing that old vinyl recording, so we had to buy a CD recording instead. But were able to fulfill his wish.
Prayer From The Heart
The world beyond the veil is a complex mystery to us mere mortals. When some mediums or channels try to explain the spirit realm it can sometimes be difficult to understand what they are trying to convey. Thankfully there are authors like my hero, Allen Kardec, the founder of modern spiritism. He has paved the way to a greater understanding of the spirit realm. In my opinion Kardec was a very gifted medium who really had everything ‘right on’ and in his books he explains the Other Side in an easy to understand way.
There is one specific Allen Kardec publication that is one of my favorites and really worth reading. It is titled Collection of Selected Prayers (1975). In this book he explains that when we pray we should not just repeat a standard formula of prayer that we always use, because it doesn’t really mean all that much.
Instead he suggest that we should always pray from our heart, and elevate our heart towards the much happier ‘spiritual regions.’ When we do this, we progress our soul growth and find true inner peace and tranquility. It can also heal our mind and body.
Kardec explains that “the form means nothing but the thought is everything. Say your prayers in accordance with your convictions and in the manner which is most agreeable to you since a good thought is worth more than numerous words which do not touch the heart.”
Kardec also teaches that prayer can be for all moments and occasions, without needing to interrupt our daily activities. It is not so much about when or where we pray, but the manner in which we pray. “You can be sure that just one of these thoughts, if sent from the heart, is listened to by our Celestial Father even more than those long repetitious prayers said out of habit and almost always without any determined motive behind them, only because the habitual hour is calling mechanically,” he wrote.
When Spirit Comes To Say Goodbye
Many people assume that their loved ones will say goodbye to them before they leave this earth plane. I beg to differ. In my experience this is not always the case. I know this without a doubt from personal experience.
In 2010, for example, my favorite sister became very ill. She was taken to the emergency room with kidney and liver failure in early August. She was admitted on a Monday, and by the Wednesday around dinner time, I received a phone call from her husband telling me that she had passed away.
Seconds after receiving this awful news, as I turned to my left, I saw her sitting next to me. Her apparition was looking at me, as if to say, “Are you okay? How are you taking this?”
Indeed, she appeared to be more concerned for me than herself. After all, where she was going now, she wasn’t going to have any more health problems or human suffering. Once her spirit saw that I had regained my composure, she left my side and continued her spiritual journey to Heaven.
My dearest sister had merely come to say goodbye, until we meet again. Rather than despair about her passing, I was suddenly relieved her soul was heading to God’s Holy Kingdom. There is after all no finer a place in the entire Universe!
In the summer of 2012, my other sister informed me that she was having difficulty breathing and was seeking medical advice about it. Sadly, at the same time, my mother was also having medical issues. Soon after, my phone rang very early one morning. My heart raced as I ran to answer the call, fearing that my mom had taken ill.
Instead, a man’s voice was saying, “Where is your mother? I need to speak to her urgently!”
The Power Of Prayer
I recently took part in a mediation and prayer group for the benefit of a country facing extreme turmoil. People from all over the world joined the event online via Zoom. It was a truly memorable experience that reminded me once again of the true power of prayer.
I have participated in prayer groups and intention-setting events for individual people and animals before, but never anything on such a global scale. The energy I felt being generated from so many participants from all over the world was truly phenomenal!
Later that evening, I was watching a YouTube clip about a lady who had been in a coma for some weeks and her family had been informed that it was unlikely to survive. She had suffered severe trauma to her internal organs in a terrible accident. A prayer link had been circulated on her behalf all over the world on social media, requesting prayers for her healing and recovery.
In the video clip, she tells the story of her out-of-body experience whilst she was in a coma. She describes the beauty of the Other Side and meeting her deceased loved ones and spirit helpers. She also mentions how she was fully aware of the energy vibration of so many prayers reaching and enveloping her from all corners of the earth. So powerful were these prayers that it brought her back to this world and set the scene for her ultimate recovery and healing.
A prayer is a plea requesting intervention and help from a higher source or greater power. Prayer is a significant aspect in most, if not all religions and spiritual traditions. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” In Buddhism it is believed that prayer is the way to destroy fear and banish sorrow and replace it with hope and healing. Sadly, I find many spiritually aware people do not always make use of this wonderful spiritual resource on a regular basis.
The Who’s Who Of The Spirit Realm
Communicating and working with Spirit can become confusing when you need to discern who exactly it is that you are engaging with. Terms like Spirit Guides, Ascended Masters, Angels, Ancestors, among other, are often used in this context, but the distinction between these entities is not always made clear. It can be very confusing. For this reason, I have compiled a quick guide to the ‘who’s who’ of the spirit realm, and how to best work with each group of spirit energies.
Angels
Angelic beings are pure Love and Light. Angels have never experienced a human incarnation. They serve as our guides and protectors. Angels are our constant guides, steering us on our journey through life and helping us to achieve our dreams and goals.
They gently nudge us forward along our life path and deliver to us unconditional love from the Divine, but only if we ask for their support.They never overstep the Law of Free Will, unless it is a life-threatening situation that demands divine intervention.
You know you are in contact with an Angel if you feel warm ‘tingles,’ and a sense of unconditional love, inner peace and well-being.
Ascended Masters
Unlike Angels, the Ascended Masters are loving teachers. They are guides who have experienced human life on Earth. These beings have achieved self-actualization, enlightenment, or an ascended state of being. They have come into full alignment with their Higher Self.
The Psychic Whispers Of Spirit
Have you ever heard mysterious whispers? If so, what were they trying to tell you? Well, growing up in Columbus Ohio, I often heard whispers or someone I could not see who seemed to be trying to tell me something. Today, I know this is known as the psychic sense of clairaudience.
I could not understand these whispering voices back in the 1960’s, and it was certainly not something you would talk about. Things like paranormal phenomena, mediumship and psychic abilities were simply unheard of in my community! It was different then, not like today.
These days we have easier and more open access to paranormal and psychic books, videos and information sources on the Internet. Nowadays you can just log into your computer or tap your phone, and find something about these subjects; or you can switch on your TV and stream your favorite channel. It seems almost every channel you turn to has some of other program about paranormal or psychic phenomena these days.
I never had the opportunity growing up to tell my parents the truth about my clairaudient ability. It was bad enough that I was able to see stuff and that I knew what would happen in the future. The fact that I heard ‘whispers’ I simply had to keep a secret! But now I know when you have a gift like this, God gave it to you, because he has a plan and purpose for your life.
When I hear these whispers, I have learned to tune into what they are trying to tell me. Sometimes it is my mother or father, who passed on, wanting to tell me something. Sometimes it is my spirit guide trying to get my attention.
Being a psychic my ability to hear these ‘whispers’ gives me a better understanding and access to valuable insights, but it can also be very challenging. For example, my wife and I have been house-hunting for some time now. I was amazed to discover in how many houses I would suddenly no longer hear the realtor or my wife speaking to me. Instead I heard whispering voices asking me questions like “why did I die?” and “Can you help me please?” or “Where have they gone, why are they no longer living here?”