Saturday 31 March 2012

REAL GHOST STORIES

I've been dipping again into the real ghost stories Bob Mann has included in his great little book The Ghosts of Totnes.  One that stands out concerns Bowden House, the history of which dates back to 1154 when it was owned by the De Broase family, who rebuilt Totnes Castle.

By 1704 it belonged to the Trists, who gave the house its Queen Anne facade, and now it is owned by the Petersen family.  With its rich and colorful past it's hardly surprising that it has so many ghosts it's hard to know where to start!  Dogs, cats, children, monks, Elizabethans and Regency Dandies have all made their presences felt here.

People have reached out and found unseen entities taking their hands, while there's a common feeling prevailing among family, friends and visitors of being watched.  I gather that the Petersen's maintenance man for many years had so many psychic inspirations and warnings that he eventually accepted them as a fact of life.

Monks have frequently been seen - and their chanting heard in the main house and courtyards - while a New Zealand visitor who once stayed in one of the cottages woke up one night to see a monk leaning over the bottom of his bed, peering directly at him.  The monk wore a black habit with a knotted cord round the waist and his cowl gave off a darkish blue light.  And another monk has been seen in the main house's nursery, this time wearing a brown habit and walking slowly about the room.  His cowl shone with such a bright light that the whole large room was illuminated.

Often, when the Petersens have been showing visitors around the house, things have been seen, felt and heard by people who had no prior idea that it was haunted.  In 1986 during a tour, a middle-aged lady started shaking and repeatedly saying: "It's coming towards me; what am I going to do?"  Nobody else saw or felt anything alarming.  On another occasion the guide entered a room full of visitors awaiting him and saw a woman brushing angrily at her skirt, saying: "Get down dog!  Who let this dog in?"  She was the only person to see the dog.

In 1988 on August Bank Holiday, people in several groups saw the ghost of a little girl in a long blue dress.  Another woman on the same day asked Mrs Petersen whether the house was haunted as she had seen the girl sitting on a chair in the Pink Room.

Bob Mann writes: "These sightings seemed to confirm something said by a clairvoyant who had visited the house the year before, and claimed to pick up the spirit of a little girl of the pre-Victorian period (presumably he meant the early 19th century) who had died in the Pink Room.  She had not been a member of the family, but had been much loved.  The girl was also seen during the 1950s, when Bowden was used as a children's home.  One of the 'old girls' turned up for a visit and saw the child at an upstairs window.

Mr Petersen's most unnerving experience occurred when he was working with some medieval stone, dug up in the grounds.  Suddenly he saw the whole of his arm and hand outlined with light.  It was several days before he could bring himself to tell his wife what had happened.

Lest I put you off going there, I hasten to point out that most visitors to Bowden thoroughly enjoy the experience, and even of those who pick up something strange, the majority find it startling but not terrifying!  It just appears that, for some reason, Bowden is one of those places where the energy of past ages is somehow accessible.  Hauntings continue, so this is definitely a place to be psychically on your toes."

I do hope you're enjoying these real ghost stories!? 

Thursday 29 March 2012

PROOF OF A DOG'S LIFE AFTER DEATH

Can there be proof of a dog's life after death? Well, while reading James Van Praagh's brilliant book TALKING TO HEAVEN (A Medium's Message Of Life After Death) I came to the chapter headed Loving Reunions.

Doing a reading for a deaf lady, James was shown a brownish sofa under a window with a colored blanket or quilt on top of it.  He then saw an orange carpet with a couple of worn spots near a door.  Asking the spirit to identify itself, he initially received no response.  Then he was shown lots of pictures on a refrigerator - mostly of a dog.

Sensing an incredible amount of love filling the room - a love that seemed truly noble and unconditional - he suddenly blurted out: "Charlie!"  At this point his sitter began to cry hysterically - releasing some of the grief she'd been feeling since the death of her dog, Charlie, two months previously.

James then received a message about a red light.  When he conveyed this, he was told that a red light flashed when her phone was ringing - and Charlie would rush over to nudge her so that she could answer it.

There was plenty more, but the upshot of this reading was that Susan, the sitter, was reassured about Charlie's continuance in the afterlife - and was also told that a new dog for the hearing impaired was on its way to her!

Do you see Charlie's story as proof of a dog's life after death?  I see it as wonderful evidence of a doggy heaven and of potential reunions with beloved pets.

Tuesday 20 March 2012

WHAT IS BEYOND DEATH?

Wanting to establish what is beyond death, I recently read a feature in the Irish Daily Mail about Hannah, a 41-year-old teacher who believes that she 'shared' the death of her widower father two years ago when he died from lung cancer.

She described being told by his nurses to prepare for the end and then - as he drifted in and out of consciousness - somehow having her own out-of-body experience.  Hannah says: "I felt like I was watching everything from above - my dad's body, the nurses.  And I could see myself, too.  And in the distance I saw light and my mum smiling."

She next remembers the 'trance' being over.  "I felt myself pulled back, as it were, and I was just in my chair with the nurses telling me dad had gone."  Two years on, Hannah cannot rid herself of her conviction that she went with her father on the first steps of his journey to the afterlife, experiencing an altered state of consciousness that coincided with her father's dying breaths.

The feature went on to say that Dr Peter Fenwick, an eminent neuropsychiatrist who has spent many years studying near-death experiences and shared death experiences, has become increasingly convinced they are a result of a 'loosening of consciousness' that occurs around the death process.

"In effect, this means the mind of the dying person is then no longer bound by any constraints of time and space, which seem to limit us while we're in physical form," he explains.  "This can then encompass someone with whom the dying person is closely connected."

Dr Pim van Lommel is a Dutch cardiologist who also believes we need to change the way we view consciousness.  Prompted by the realisation that a substantial number of patients who had suffered cardiac arrest described the same sensations and phenomena at a time when they had been pronounced brain dead, he has spent years studying near-death phenomena - consequently moving from scepticism to acceptance.

He says: "What I've witnessed and the data I've gathered have convinced me that the hypothesis that consciousness is a by-product of brain-function has to be discussed again," he says. "It's hard for people to accept because it goes against the basic principles you learn in medical school, which hold that consciousness is only there when the body is functioning.  Now I'm convinced this is not true and that it can exist separately.  Moreover,  I believe in an altered state of consciousness where there is no time and space in the way we understand it."

So - what is beyond death?  Have you reached any conclusions yet?

Thursday 15 March 2012

MORE PROOF OF LIFE AFTER DEATH

I've just been reading extracts from Annie Cap's book 'Beyond Goodbye' in which she tells of experiencing, from her home in Kent, the same sensations her mother was experiencing on her deathbed - thousands of miles away in the USA.

Clutching at her chest and coughing and battling for breath, she rang her mother - who it transpired had been fighting for breath for the past thirty minutes.  The telephone was put to her mother's ear and Annie was able to tell her she loved her and that it was OK to let go.  Her Mum died with Annie still on the end of the line.

Since then Annie has experienced the profound conviction that her Mum was back with her.  She says: "In the darkest moments of my grief, I had very distinct sensations of her stroking my hair to comfort me, just as she used to do when I was a child."

She mentions other strange happenings too, saying: "I started to find hair pins, of the kind my mother used to wear, dotted around the house.  They would be in random places - by the coffee-maker, or on the sofa.  My husband noticed them, too.  I had very short hair and didn't use anything like that, so it was hugely odd.  Also, my mother was a smoker and I woke up in the morning to the smell of cigarettes even though our house was totally smoke-free."

Do you agree with me that Annie's experiences could well be more proof of life after death?

Tuesday 13 March 2012

PROOF OF LIFE AFTER DEATH

In my quest to bring you proof of life after death I'm reading James van Praagh's brilliant book Talking To Heaven (A Medium's Message Of Life After Death).

I read yesterday the comprehensive messages James was able to give a couple whose son, Steven, was believed to have committed suicide.  Such was the detailed information he gave them from Steven in spirit that they went to the police armed with the knowledge that, far from ending his own life, he had in fact been murdered.  He even named his murderer - and when a detective investigated he eventually obtained a confession from the man in question, who is now serving a life sentence in a state penitentiary!

Now I'm reading about a young man who died tragically in Vietnam when blown up by a grenade that got caught in his clothing.  From spirit Mike reassured the brother who had been grieving for him that on death he was greeted by their grandmother, Alice, who had helped him come to terms with the suddenness of his passing.  Pappy, their grandfather, and Jo Jo their German Shepherd were also there.

Mike apologized for causing so much worry and heartache and emphasized that he was all right and living a full life on the 'other side'.

Proof of life after death?  I believe so - don't you?

Monday 12 March 2012

GHOST STORIES REAL

By ghost stories real do I mean real ghost stories?  I suppose so, although there seems to me to be a subtle difference between the two phrases.

Today I want to share with you the story of a ghost that haunted a newspaper office in Totnes when the premises were situated in Fore Street.  Two brothers who ran the Totnes Times (founded in 1860 by Theodore Hannaford) lived with and were cared for by their sister Kate.

It is she - according to Bob Mann in his little book The Ghosts of Totnes - who's believed to have haunted the premises where for more than 100 years this newspaper was written, edited and printed. It was a few years after her death that the haunting began and she especially favored the narrow passage between the offices and the printing works.

People moving to and fro often sensed her presence, although her chief preoccupation seemed to be rearranging pieces of copy and occasionally making them disappear.  A journalist working for the paper back in the 1960s remembers: "I was working late with a colleague, correcting proofs, when we distinctly heard footsteps in the passage.  Knowing that every door was locked I went down the stairs, but found no one there.  The next morning several pieces of copy were missing.  This sort of thing happened on many occasions and lots of people felt that there was an unseen 'someone' in the building."

Was Kate to blame?  Whether she was, or not, she was generally felt to be friendly - if a bit mischievous!

Thursday 8 March 2012

ANOTHER GHOST STORY

I thought you might enjoy another ghost story.  This one concerns the playful spirit of a little girl - possibly over four hundred years old.

She's said to haunt the Priory Gatehouse, a house built around 1540 by a prosperous Tudor merchant in Totnes on the site of the former gatehouse to the medieval Priory.  When the ground floor of the house was run as a shoe shop its owner, a Mrs Margaret Stone, and her staff were constantly aware of a strange 'something' in the atmosphere - and often experienced sudden inexplicable drops in temperature.

When she started selling children's shoes more dramatic things began happening.  Coming into work in the morning, she'd find shoe boxes all over the floor - always children's shoes - and things disturbed.  There seemed to be no system to it.  Sometimes stuff was moved around at night, or re-arranged when someone's back was turned.  A point was reached when Margaret Stone would simply say "Naughty girl!" when something was lost or moved.

My thanks are due to Bob Mann for his terrific book The Ghost of Totnes, which is where I've found yet another ghost story.  And there are more to come!

I'm off shortly to photograph the Priory Gatehouse.  I'll be sharing the result with you soon.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

LIFE AFTER DEATH EXPERIENCES


Have you any life after death experiences you’d like to share?  Here’s one that fascinated me when I read about it a few years ago - and that I’ve never forgotten.

A Captain Arthur Flowerdew, who lived in a Norfolk cottage with his wife, had since boyhood had visions – or flashbacks – of another life, in another country, in another time.  These memories (or whatever they were) occurred chiefly when he was on the beach gazing at pebbles.

He said that at the age of about 12, when he was on holiday with his family at Cromer and Sheringham, he found one or two amber or red rocks lying on the beach.  Picking them up, he remembered thinking “This is the color of the rock of that city.”

When interviewed by author Joan Forman for her book The Mask of Time he told how his lifelong vision of Petra (the ancient city in Jordan hewn from solid rock) had unfolded.  Over the years he had been invaded by images of a rock city with cliffs of amber and pink.

 He saw men in long Biblical robes – but no women or children; a city built in a hollow connected via a narrow gorge to the desert beyond; a stream running along the bottom of the gorge; gold and silver treasure hidden in the back of a temple; tombs carved out of the rock walls; an absence of statues or idols, although the people worshipped certain gods.  

Captain Flowerdew recalled being a soldier in that lifetime, as well as in this one, and having to guard the entrance to the city at the mouth of a gorge about 6 feet wide.

He remembered in vivid detail a fight at that spot when he and the soldiers he commanded were under attack.  A really huge man in a tunic and baggy trousers came at him with a spear and he felt a thump in his chest plus a searing pain in his back.  He could remember nothing after that.

Joan Forman, whose book was a reasoned and unsensational examination of the nature of time made credible by certain findings of modern physics, saw time as an integral part of matter and energy – not as an ever-moving, passing flow chopped up in equal parts by the clock.

She did some research on Petra and found that the city walls were not simply ‘rose-red’ but pink and amber and ochre; one city entrance was very narrow and there was evidence that the track through the gorge – called the Sig – had been used as a water-course; local deities were represented by blocks of stone instead of statues.

And when the Nabateans held the city (about 400 BC to AD 106) after the Jews had been taken into slavery, they might well have sent women and children into the nearby hills, leaving just men to guard the city and its treasure against an anticipated Syrian attack – an attack in which Captain Flowerdew’s former self may have perished 2,200 years ago!  

I'd love to hear of your life after death experiences.  Do tell!


Sunday 4 March 2012

EGYPTIAN AFTERLIFE

What do I know about Egyptian afterlife?  We are all well aware of the pyramids built by the ancient Egyptians both as monuments to their dead and as doorways to the hereafter.  They still stand today as testimony to a lost civilization.

Until last year there were thought to be around 140 pyramids across Egypt.  But, thanks to space technology, satellites have now helped locate 17 further pyramids and 3,000 ancient settlements hidden underground.  According to a feature in the DAILY MAIL more than 1,000 burial sites were also discovered thanks to infra-red technology capable of probing beneath the desert sands from 450 miles above the Earth.

Sarah Parcak, a NASA-funded archaeologist, said: "I couldn't believe we could locate so many sites.  To excavate a pyramid is the dream of every archaeologist."  Dr Parcak, from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, analyzed images from satellites equipped with cameras powerful enough to zoom in on objects less than three feet in diameter on the Earth's surface.

Ancient Egyptians used mud bricks much denser than the sand and soil surrounding them, so allowing the shapes of homes, temples, tombs and other structure from thousands of years ago to be seen.

Two pyramids at Saqqara (burial ground for the ancient capital of Memphis) have already been confirmed by excavations, with the site now being hailed as one of the most important in Egyptian archaeology.  Prior to this find, Djoser's Pyramid at Saqqara, built around 2,600 BC, was one of the oldest pyramids ever discovered.

Ancient Egyptians attached huge importance to their afterlife, devoting much of their time and wealth to preparation for their death. The afterlife was seen as a continuation of life on earth, so the dead man would need in his tomb every necessity and luxury he'd needed in life. Simultaneously, the ancients had a human fear of  the death they saw as inevitable.

How did they reconcile the inevitability of death with the divinity of their king who - as a god - was above death?  Maybe the answer lies in the myth of the god Osiris - believed once to have ruled as king of Egypt. Set, his brother, murdered him and seized the throne - only to be defeated by Horus, Osiris' son.

Horus avenged his father, becoming king of Egypt.  Osiris, the embodiment of vegetation that dies in winter and is resurrected in spring, lived on as lord of the Underworld and every subsequent king of Egypt was thought, after death, to become Osiris and partake of his kingdom in the hereafter.

There - I hope you'll feel I've given you at least a little taste of the Egyptian afterlife?