ghost
Jimmy – A True Ghost Story
When I first moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, I lived in one of the three old stage coach depots located here. The two others were owned by Burl Ives and the French Consulate, respectively. I can’t speak for those, but I can tell you about my experiences in the one where I lived.
I lived there for five years and it was totally charming. It had been designated as a guest house on the property, next to the main house. It was built with grey native stone and it looked like a painting by Currier and Ives. The perfect Santa Fe retreat, right? Or, anywhere, for that matter!
But a ‘caretaker’ came along with the place, although I did not know that until after I moved in.
The first fine morning at 4:00 a.m. he announced his presence, although I would soon learn that his appearances were anything but rare. This particular morning, I noticed that the lamp in the living room was flickering a bit. As I had been traveling extensively, I was on Australian time and, fortunately, felt quite alert at 4:00 a.m.
I, promptly, began to investigate. Wondering about the condition of the electrical current, since the house was such an old structure. I turned on other lights to see if they would also flicker. They didn’t, so I checked the relatively new lamp.
Jiggling it, shaking it and using various, and assorted other manipulations, to make it flicker, didn’t do the trick. Hmmm, I thought. Is this possibly an otherworldly entity? I was soon to find out that, indeed, it was not of this dimension, when for several consecutive mornings at the same time, 4:00 a.m., the same lamp would flicker a few times.
Finally, I introduced myself, and the lamp flickered! The lamp was in the front window next to my wingback chair. And, then, I was having a conversation with my chair. It went something like this, “Well, you seem quite benevolent, but what are you doing here?” The lamp flickered again. Although I could feel a presence, I had no fear. So, I became bolder. I asked, “Do you live here?” Again the lamp flickered. Finally, in exasperation, I said “Well, for now I guess you can stay, but you eventually need to move on. Oh, and don’t bring any of your friends here.”
My Paranormal Encounter With An Iconic Dog
Do our dearly departed pets also cross over to the other side, and do they still communicate with us from the afterlife? As a psychic medium I have indeed had contact with the spirit energies of animals in readings, and more recently an especially profound encounter during a paranormal investigation.
The investigation site was a privately owned property that is rich with history. It is not accessible to the public, as it is used by a corporation. The paranormal investigation team that I am a member of explored every room in the historic home, as well as other areas of interest located on the land around it. We would rotate in split teams to various area in order to investigate all the possible locations on the property.
Having already been in the home on several occasions, the group I was with decided to investigate the sitting room adjacent to the kitchen. Upon entering we got some response with little consistency. Other investigators had previously reported some activity in the same room, so we decided to see if we might be able to add to those experiences.
I generally don’t carry any equipment for these expeditions, except a pen, notepad, and a flashlight. While the other members of the group were doing an electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recording session, I felt drawn to an area to the left, closest to the door through which we entered. At first it seemed odd, as I was being drawn to two porcelain figures of dogs: one of an adult Great Dane, and a smaller figurine of a puppy.
I picked up the puppy statuette and intuitively asked if I could ‘take it home with me’. Almost immediately one of the investigators got a response on one of our devices. She then asked if the responder was male or female, and she got a response. I handed her the puppy and she continued.
Sitting on the floor next to the other porcelain dog, I began to feel a very cold wave of air around me. There were no vents or drafts, as all outside doors were closed. I asked the others to verify the temperature change, which they did.
Lessons Learned From Paranormal Investigation
Paranormal investigation and ‘ghost hunting’ has become very popular in recent years. Due to many television shows and video channels dedicated to this subject, there are many new fans exploring the field. As a psychic medium and empath, as well as an amateur history enthusiast, I also enjoy investigating the paranormal as a matter of both professional and personal curiosity.
How do I associated my passion for history with the paranormal? Well, in my view ‘official’ history is mostly written by the wealthy and influential, but I personally wish to learn the true history and stories behind the official narrative. And what better way than to get the truth from those who actually lived and experienced those events personally. And since they are generally no longer present in this life, I need to seek them out in the afterlife.
I am currently a member of a local paranormal group in my area. I became interested in working with a paranormal investigation group especially because I wanted to obtain documented, technical evidence of what I have been seeing and hearing in my mind all my life. In return, I believe my gifts also enhance the investigations for the other members of the group.
I have noticed many other groups do not often get good leads on hot spots that are more ‘active’ than others, nor many significant results, even with all the modern technological devices available. But with our group I have had the privilege and good fortune of getting some decent voice recordings and photos, and profound experiences that I wouldn’t have been able to without the efforts and support of the group.
If you are keen to get to become a ‘ghost hunter’ too, there are several things I would suggest before you get started. Firstly, learn to meditate at least on a basic level, simply because it allows your spiritual or psychic ‘senses’ to better pick up on paranormal energies.
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.
Paw Prints All Over My Heart
The agony of losing a dog is immeasurable. I lost my beloved Oliver, a King Charles Cavalier, several months ago and I’m still crying every day. But I have found some consolation in his afterlife signs and visits from the other side.
He was 11 years old and in perfect health, or so I thought. He’d had a full checkup three months prior and he had the test results of a very young dog! I also used to take him on long walks every day, his head held high, his tail wagging happily, a prancing skip in his step.
He was such a loving, happy dog. He stopped for every human, always begging for their attention and a pat on the head. Everyone knew him and loved him in the neighborhood.
He followed me around everywhere, lay under the table as I worked, always got up to join me for Yoga, and I left a spot for him behind my pillow every night at bedtime. I took him everywhere with me.
My 90-year-old mom lives across the street and that was his second home. He loved it there. One day, I was out running errands and he got loose. He then came knocking on my mom’s door looking for me there. She was always happy to see him and invited him in.
One day he simply stopped eating. He refused his favorite dog treats, would not even sniff peanut butter. Then he stopped drinking water. We immediately took him to the vet for tests. Not long after, the kind doctor phoned. My heart sank. “His organs are already shutting down, there’s nothing we can do for him,” he said.
We rushed back to the vet, praying he would hang on long enough so we could say our goodbyes. He did hang on for us. My husband, daughter and I were all together when we first picked him up as a puppy and now we were together to see him off. They didn’t even need to sedate him; he was already leaving his body and was calm as can be.
Just before they gave him the final injection, he suddenly turned his head and focused. I thought his loving gaze was on all of us, but my daughter insists he was only looking at me. There was no question he loved us all, but I did have an incredibly special connection with Oliver.
A Healing Spirit Visitation And The Haunted Toy
A few months ago, my best friend, whom I’ve known since I was five, had her mother pass away. Shortly after that, I woke up in the middle of the night because my son’s educational toy was spontaneously activated and said: “Learn.”
I then instantly felt my friend’s mother’s presence. She was visiting me to apologize to me for something that happened when I was a little girl. It was a deep wound for me at the time, but I rarely thought about it since, and did not harbor any ill will because of it.
When I was 11 years old, I had told my best friend that I had “seen my goddess.” I did not know about spirit guides and had not yet been exposed to any related spiritual philosophies or belief systems. However, I was already interacting with my spirit guide back then, whom I called ‘my goddess.’ Today, I know her as Lily.
I also told my friend that my goddess had said that she was going to give me gift. Later that day, in the cow field that I had to cross to get to school every morning, I found a silver ring.
My friend knew that we were not wealthy, so there was no way I could have bought the ring with my own money. It clearly had been found. It was too much of a coincidence for my friend to not link it to me saying my goddess was giving me a gift.
Unfortunately, these events really scared my friend. She told her parents. That night, my friend’s father, who was a rather intimidating man, came to my house and yelled at me in front of my mom. My mother was confused, since she did not know what had happened earlier that day.
My friend’s parents never got over it. They assumed I was lying and telling stories that scared their daughter. They treated me quite badly after that. This is too often the lot of many psychic children. We are frequently accused of lying or exaggerating, among other things.
A Ghostly Intervention For A Stubborn Pair
I’ve had many strange paranormal occurrences in my life, but the most recent one really takes the cake!
My talkative Libra husband was on a marathon 3-hour call with a friend, when a wondrous thing happened during their conversation. A strange, ethereal voice cut-in and actually cursed my husband out, repeatedly!
The call was on speaker phone, and I was downstairs in my kitchen, hearing the entire discourse.
“What is going on up there?” I called out.
“You heard that?”
“Of course I heard that. It’s beyond creepy.”
His friend heard nothing on his end and thought my husband was playing some kind of a prank on him.
Then the eerie voice returned, this time calling him a horse’s hindquarters.
“It just happened again!” he shouted.
“I know…I heard that. I’m coming up there now to record it,” I said.
All the while, his friend continued to hear nothing on his end.
I hit the record button on my cell and waited…but crickets ensued. There was absolutely nothing, so eventually I went back downstairs, somewhat disappointed.
Of course, the moment I arrived back in my kitchen, the disgruntled spirit returned shouting the same colorful epithets, like a salty sailor! No surprise there, as my husband actually is a bit of a salty sailor himself and knows many who’ve passed in the industry.
