a baby is born

This week a baby girl was born to our family, she is beautiful and will be much loved - but this got me thinking. When a child is born to us it is usual to celebrate, to be grateful that the baby is healthy and to welcome the much wanted newborn (in the ideal circumstances). The newborn is a soul just like the rest of us, it has a spirit and its own identity which is seperate from our own. The soul also has friends and loved ones in the spirit world - just like us - so how do the spirits and guides that love this soul feel when it leaves them for a while to come to us?
Many mediums will tell you that when one of us dies and crosses over there are great celebrations in the world of spirit, just at the time when we are mourning deeply here on earth for our partner, friend, loved one. So would it not make sense for the reverse to be true too? When a soul comes to be born to us would not those left behind mourn their loss?
The Universe has a wonderful way of achieving balance and can do so in many ways that we will never come to understand or ways that may seem cruel to us. Understanding or at least accepting the balance, the trade-off, the karma goes a long way to coping with modern demands in our lives. We have a lot to worry about and some of us become bogged down by worrying about global problems that we as individuals are powerless to influence, we cannot take on everything that is wrong, we can only heal ourselves and our immediate environment, but if everyone did that....the world would be a better place.
With rebirth comes sacrifice or loss and in turn further rebirth or renewal. Nothing ever truly ends and we never truly lose anyone, but understanding that is the key to peace.

dead or alive?

Imagine you see the ghost of someone you know. It could be anyone - a relative or friend or even someone famous. Would you assume that the person concerned must have died? I expect that you would.
However, it is possible to see the ghost of a living person and it does happen. I could offer you several explanations but the most common reason you would see the ghost of a person you know to be living and well is because they are thinking of you or have something important to tell you.
When we are in the sleep state we all leave our physical bodies and travel in the astral body. The astral body is the replica of our physical body and so we look as we do now. Some practitioners can astrally project whilst still awake or using only light trance techniques but we can all do it when we sleep.
So if a familiar face wakes you in the night it does not necessarily mean that they have passed over, they could simply be visiting you, or wanting to be near you for a while. A person does not need to be dead to astrally project their image to the living.
A good example (I have many) happened just the other night. I was sleeping when I felt the bed move beside me (husband wasn't in bed at the time) I could hear steady breathing and so opened my eyes. I could plainly see my 10 year old daughter laying by me, her head on husband's pillow. She looked peaceful and asleep. She stretched her arms up and out over the pillow then put them to rest on her chest. The room was gloomy but the hallway night light provides enough light for me to see furnishings and make out the layout of the room and things in it.
I reached over to give my daughter a cuddle only to find she wasn't really there. It didn't surprise me that she evaporated in front of my eyes, it has happened before with her and with others. And before you start - yes, I get my eyes tested and no - I'm not nuts and nor was I dreaming. I just see things that you may or may not have done and I have worked to understand the mechanics of how such things occur. It is natural law and nothing to be afraid of. I do get a bit fed up with sceptics who think that they can belittle me or my intelligence and credibility by calling into question my experiences. There is so much evidence in the world if you bother to look for it and opportunities to learn how to sense and see but it takes dedication and a lack of fear to succeed. I just happen to be one of those people who can see and sense, like many before me, and who is brave enough to document it and speak of it. All I ask for is respect from others and mostly that is what I get because 9 out of 10 people I speak to have had a startling encounter or frightening experience themselves that has left them in no doubt about the spirit world. My response to sceptics is to say "When you die you will have to come back to me and say sorry for being rude, because you're going over before me." That usually shuts them up.

How do you know if you've seen a ghost?

Many times people have described their experiences of seeing a ghost to me. Then they often go on to doubt what they saw and try to find a rational explanation for it. That's fine, we should always question our experiences and try to find a scientific reason for any phenomena before coming to the conclusion that something is a paranormal event.
There is one way to tell if you are seeing or feeling a spirit or ghost and it's something we can all do and naturally have available to us.
The trick is this - if you experience an emotion at the same time as sensing or seeing something external to yourself then the chances are that it's a spirit. Spirit people are the sum of their emotions - they no longer have a voice or body to express themselves with. They use our nervous system in a very subtle way in order to communicate with us. Our aura also registers the energy of another being and can pick up information that with practise we can learn to interpret and understand.
We have a habit of brushing aside our emotions when they catch us unawares but next time it happens to you try to hang on to the feeling long enough to work out if the emotion truly belongs to you or if it is being projected to you for the purpose of communication. There is no need to hunt for these experiences - they are everywhere - even in your own home at times. Be open to new sensations, be aware of your sense of self and how your emotions work and you will be able to sense outwardly more easily.

the dead don't lie...

...or do they?
Most spirit who come during a reading to pass on love and information are very honest about all situations. They can afford to be truthful when their comment comes with love as we all can do here on earth too. Rather than lie they will answer your questions diplomatically and gently but always with your well-being in the forefront of their minds, their desire is to help - not hinder.
There are other spirits though that will lie and deceive you for their own gain. This is where the warnings come in for novices and those that dabble in contacting the dead. I have heard mediums say that protection against the spirits is unnecessary - not true in my experience. It stands to reason that if there are spirit people who pass to the higher plains and are good then there will be those who do not get home, who linger around the etheric level which is close to us and the earth, and will lie and deceive so that they can stay and draw energy from the living. There may be many reasons why a spirit does not pass over properly, fear, anger, worry, attachment to a home or person, death by violence, lack of faith in the afterlife or not ready to die.
Some people are just plain bad - they do not suddenly become good people at death. These people often linger around the living, causing depression, illness, bad luck and strange thought patterns, arguments and electrical breakdowns.
When sitting to contact the dead these are the spirits you don't want around you. You have to protect yourself against them with varied psychic techniques and this is where knowledge is power. I have spent a considerable amount of time cleansing novices of bad energy or spirit entities that they have collected through bad practice. It's true that the Ouija board is dangerous, but only in the wrong hands. It is a tool the same as cards or crystals. The problem arises with the people that use it not having any knowledge about protection and also the usual method of use which is to drink alcohol from the same glass. Alcohol and spiritism do not mix. I refuse to read for people who have had a drink. Alcohol weakens the natural aura protection which can allow entities inside it easily, but makes them hard to get rid of. If you want to work with spirit, join a circle, find out as much as you can, attend workshops and do it properly. When we do dangerous activities we wear the relative protective clothing and activities of the mental kind are no different. The mind is a wonderful tool but at the same time fragile, to do this kind of work you need to be grounded, mentally strong and determined because at times the questions that you will broach can be life changing. Be sensible and go in with your eyes open. Don't believe everything others tell you - alive or dead - ask many questions and always work with good intentions.

After some work with the higher realms of the spiritual world today I learned something. That's not unusual, but this brought me a new understanding of the survival of the human soul.
I was informed that souls that are damaged, bad, wicked do not always survive in the long run, these souls are in fact corrupt, fragmented and there are parts of their physiology absent. I thought that ALL souls were immortal, that the less developed or criminal ones would evolve over time and become purer but that is not so.
For example, if a serial killer dies and finds himself in the custody of a higher evolved being (which happens - they do not suddenly gain freedom) after rehabilitation he may be offered another chance at life to amend for his crimes in some way (karma) or at least to be a good person. If he accepts the offer and tries again he will be observed for the duration. At the end of his time on earth if he has succeeded in being good he will cross over and will go for further rehabilitation and teaching. If however the soul returns to his old ways during his incarnation at his passing he will be met and be returned to custody in the spirit realms.
The soul must then express regret, remorse and understanding for his crimes before any help is given. If the soul cannot be changed, cannot be healed then the soul will continue to fragment and eventually disintegrate. So the soul is not necessarily immortal but it does exist after death for a long, long time.
There is small comfort to be had for those who have lost loved ones to violence in that for those criminals who are uncaught here on the earth plain there is no escaping their spiritual prison.

like attracts like

Like attracts like. In spiritual circles this phrase is used alot but what does it actually mean?
Basically it tells us to be kind to everyone if you want other's to be kind to you, to laugh and be happy even when times are tough and happiness will surround you. To be a good person to attract good people to you and good events in your life.
Anger and violence will bring more of those emotions to you as will jealousy and fear. So have a good clear out. Whatever it is that you do to make yourself feel good; walking the dog, running, having a massage, watching a funny show on TV, it doesn't matter as long as it lifts your spirits.
As winter approaches and we become swathed in dark nights and gloomy days it's hard to stay cheerful when travelling to work and everything seems like a hard slog. Spending a little time on yourself can go a long way to improving your mood and keeping you bright, so indulge yourself a little and allow your other halves and loved ones the time and space to do the same because you are boosting your spiritual selves as well as the physical ones.

Sceptisism versus Spiritualism

Many men I meet are sceptics of the spirit world and afterlife as a phenomenon and one they believe to be unproven. This is natural. Men tend to want to see things with their own eyes, to touch them. They think logically, not emotionally. They like to think of themselves as scientific not intuitive. However, spiritualism is a science of discovery. It was never a religion or faith of any kind. In order for spiritualism to be recognised under UK law the term church had to be used for their meeting houses, UK law only recognises such organisations as cults or religions. Anyone who has ever sat in a spiritualist service or particularly a development circle would not be able to doubt the existence of an exterior influence that provides amazing evidence of survival after death every day of the week. I have received such information and given it to others who have often been astounded - as they were sceptics - both male and female.
I don't believe that someone can mock the existence of spirit until they know for sure. So who is the scientist here? the person who denies a phenomena without research or the person who studies and devotes time to discovering the answers for themselves? I know where I sit. I sit with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Daniel Dunglass Homes.
There is a main spiritualist teaching academy at Stansted, England, called the Arthur Findlay College. There in archives lies hundreds if not thousands of tapes, videos and transcripts of evidence of spirit and life after the death of the physical body. Manifestations have been filmed, voices recorded, witness statements gathered. Now, we're not talking about attendees who are nutty, lacking in intelligence or desperate attention seekers. We are talking about professionals, lawyers, police officers, medical staff, bankers and others with responsible jobs and lives. If you look for the evidence there is plenty of it. What most of you see is the celebrity of spiritism. You see Colin Fry, Sally Morgan, people on the road doing shows, sitting in the limelight. You don't see the many years of dedication and hard work, research and personal risk, both public and personal, that dedicated people invest in the progression of research in the spirit world. Science has many fields, just because something remains unseen and unproven doesn't make it impossible.

Wet weather and the dead

It's well known in spiritual circles that wet weather will provide better communication and results of phenomena than a warm summer evening. It is believed that the extra water allows spirit to access our energy fields more easily and connections are more readily made. (see my earlier post on synapse lapse). Electricity needs a conductor and moisture in the air is just that. Anyone who has sat in a psychic development circle will note that on dark, damp winter nights the atmosphere lends itself to medumship in contrast to warm, light and dry ones. Funny old spirit world.

Spirit Rescue

I have been asked rather a lot lately for personal readings, which I have turned down, writing being my main focus just now. I have also been asked about spirit rescue and what it means.
Very simply it is when a medium visits a haunted place or person and identifies a trapped or lost spirit. This is just a person who has lost their way home and become stuck in the ether of our world. These spirits can still influence certain aspects in our physical surroundings such as electricity, water, emotions, movement of small objects and typically all of the symptoms of a haunting.
Why do they mess with our stuff? They are merely trying to get our attention. Imagine being invisible to others, being unable to communicate in your usual way. Being scared of other shadows and what you would see as ghosts but are in fact the evolved spirits trying to get your attention to move you on. How would you get yourself noticed without a voice? My guess is that you would make a noise, interfere somehow with the living so that help may come. A lost spirit is usually distressed, grieving and very confused. Remember that they belong to someone, they are loved by someone and deserve to be treated with respect and compassion. I don't like ghost hunters who don't understand the damage they do to such souls with taunts and tests for them to prove their existence. Next time you hear of a haunting think about who that person is, they are more than just a ghost they are the same as you or I.

halloween witches

Halloween again. I love it the darkness, the pumpkins, children dressed up in scary costumes and the fun that it brings. The tradition of laughing at the evil spirits thought to be in the ether is an old one. Laughter dissipates fear and what better way to take away someone's power than to laugh at them?
I expect that there will be the usual witches dancing their ceremonies at Alderley Edge, Clumber Park, The New Forest and other beauty spots of the country. Let's hope it's not too chilly for their sake. I did once see some naked witches dancing around a fire in Clumber Park one evening. It was dark, their hair long and wild swaying around their bare skins as they danced, holding hands, singing and whooping as the fire crackled and spat its way through forest branches. They scared me at first but as I drove by I watched them and saw the joy of freedom on their faces. Eight women, dancing as they wished, naked, in the night air, flames at their feet and a song on their lips. I was just curious after that, to understand their beliefs and then to learn about other faiths.

luxury health care - for dogs

I've had my dog to the vet's this week, a thorn stuck in her paw caused an infection. I can't help comparing her experience to that of my recent trips to A&E.
I made a phone call, the vet said "bring her in right away." A quick car journey.
My husband's broken collar bone took us to A&E one evening.
The vet saw my dog within 3 minutes of signing in.
He waited 4 hours on a plastic bum numbing chair, to be seen.
The dog had a private consultation room.
He was seen in a draughty cubicle with many eyes watching.
The dog was treated with shots then scheduled for surgery the very next day.
Husband had to wait a further 2 hours for an x-ray. Then a further 1 hour 30 minutes for the result.
Dog was given a drink and a couple of treats.
He had nothing, not even pain relief, unless he used the vending machine full of unhealthy snacks.
No surgery required, luckily, but I wonder how long the wait would have been for something non urgent.
Is it me or do our pets get premium medical care while we languish in waiting rooms with people who come along in their slippers, empty the vending machines of chocolate and coke and settle down to watch the telly? Apparently it saves them putting a coin in the electric meter and they don't have to have their heating on at home.
I'm told the NHS is the pride of Britain. We all know it's in severe trouble. It will go the way of America, the rot has already set in, and we will have to pay a premium for private health care. It's only a matter of time before there are ambulances for the insured as in the US. Will we then be able to opt out of paying taxes into the NHS?

Clever Creation

Despite what people may think it is hard to sit down and think of something to write about that is interesting. It pulls a writer up short when they find they have no fabulous anecdotes or weird experiences to share - 'what a boring life I must have,' they cry.
So what? I say. We all have mundane tasks to do, we all have household admin and tedium in our lives. We do not live in a soap (although if you watch Jezza Kyle some people clearly do) with dramatic twists and turns. That's why people buy and read fiction, sci fi, fantasy, horror and all the other genres - for escapism.
Without the multitude of fabulous imaginations and clever authors that bring us things that we would never have thought of, life would be dull indeed. All the films you watch, all the programs on TV, all games you play are all devised by writers and put together as a team or solely. When you think of your favourite films and books you have to admire the human capacity for fantastic thought and creation.

Psychic Wind

A psychic wind or breeze describes the rush of cold air when a spirit or ghost is present. They are a common phenomena in spiritual circles and anyone who has been on a ghost hunt will be familiar with the term. However it could apply in different circumstances such as a psychic or medium who is simply full of their own hot air. I'm not naming names but I know of several who love to blow their own trumpets about their experiences, their knowledge, how great they are, how accurate and so on.
Remember though that just because someone is in the public eye it doesn't always mean that they are a great medium or psychic, it makes them lucky or good at promoting themselves.
Some of the best mediums and psychics are still to be found in spiritualist churches the length and breadth of the UK and their messages are free of charge.

A Synapse Lapse

I have been away from my manuscript for Angelica's Promise for a few days and what a difference it makes to my progress. It brings me to a complete stop because I can't remember the details of what has gone before. I have to sit and read it all and review my notes to get back up to speed.
I'm sure when I was younger this didn't happen - don't get me wrong - I'm not old - but I don't think I'm firing on all my synapses.
I'm told by a brain expert I know that the trick to great brain function and quick wits is to drink lots of water to enable the electrical charges in the brain to jump the gap between one synapse and the next, can't be done without hydration she tells me. I wonder if vodka works in the same way....?

An Ill Wind

Today is windy and cold with the threat of rain drowning our little country. I do wish the weather people would be more cheerful because they set the day up for us all. We know the weather in our country is terrible, we know there's a high chance that we'll get wet no matter what the month and we know that in October we need to wear a coat.
Everyone I have met today is grumpy, they are unwell and know that there is a long slog of weeks at work before a christmas break. The weather people can lie to us, cheer us up a bit, do a little song and dance, tell jokes, wear their clothes back to front - but don't predict the weather - we know!!

a bit of a blockage

Does writers' block exist? For some thinking of what to write next is hard work. For others, endless scenarios jump out at them and they are able to grab them with ease and translate them into constructive sentences.
I don't suffer with writers' block because it is so simple to overcome. You can write a dozen opening lines to a novel and see which one takes you on an interesting thought process, you can read the newspapers - plenty of outrageous behaviour in their pages. You can watch (God forbid) Jezza Kyle or Big Brother or any number of low brow shows on TV. (I'm not a snob - far from it - but you have to admit that the dumbing down of TV has gone too far, even the evening news is read to me as though I am a simpleton.)
Pick up a magazine and it will give inspiration too. Talk to people, remember something from your past and take it in another direction to your own experience. Use your imagination. You see writers' block doesn't exist.

the first few lines of Angelica's Promise

The Sun's brightest rays penetrate the apple juice in my tall glass and reflect myriad patterns onto my hand. The gold light, refracted by the liquid and its container are a strange comfort to me, kind of like God's light dancing over my soul.
Everything around me has a deeper significance since my diagnosis. I notice now the beauty of life and reprimand myself for not seeing it sooner. Don't get me wrong, I always saw life as precious but I hadn't recognised the detail, precision or strength in every living thing. Even rain is beautiful and death more so, although I'm not ready for it yet.

writing and reading

One of the biggest mistakes a writer can make is not reading other authors' works. Reading is an education, we learn to spell and construct sentences from reading, we learn new words to add to our vocabulary and another way of speaking perhaps. It doesn't matter what you read, a picture book, a comic strip, a tabloid paper or literary works as long as you read something. People love to escape in fantasy, science fiction and romance and others prefer an autobiography or factual reading,  it's all out there to be enjoyed.
For the writer, reading is essential to avoid becoming stale. But what of the writers' who say "I'm too busy writing to read!?" You have to study your craft, improve all the time, stay on trend if you write commercially and the best way to do all of these things is to read varied material.

I'm in the mood...

Although I'm not a moody person by nature I notice that these days I do get grumpy if I don't get to write. I suppose that's a sign of a writer who is serious about doing something with their (hopeful) talent and someone who writes as a hobby or for pleasure.
It's as though there is creative energy inside of me and if I don't let it out it leads to constipation - you know what I mean.
You will have heard advice in the past which told you to write down things that were making you unhappy and then throw the note on the fire or write a ranting letter to your other half to vent your frustrations, but then rip it up. It's a release of pent up emotions and ideas and writing creatively is the same.
My brain is like a busy airport runway. Ideas landing and taking off at all times of the day and night. Some ideas stick around longer than others and it's these that I need to type up asap. Trouble is when you have a family and you are wanted in three places at once. I'm good but I'm not that good.....

Writers Tip

From the great George Orwell comes some solid writing advice.

1. "What am I trying to say?"
2. "What words express it?"
3. "What image or idiom will make it clearer?"
4. "Is the image fresh enough to have any effect?"
5. "Could I put it more simply?"
6. "Have I written anything unavoidably ugly?"

These questions should apply to every sentence you write to stand a chance of being published in the traditional manner. The lesson I learned during my creative writing course = writing is much harder than it looks.