Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side (16 page)

The front room housed mostly decorative items: mirrors,

vases, jewellery cabinets and such, and there was quite a selection of statues. In fact it was a statue which, according to the only person in the room at the time, had flung itself off its high shelf and shattered on the floorboards below.

“Honestly, I was nowhere near it!” Stan explained to the

owner, who seemed as unconvinced as I was.

I had no choice but to believe him when barely a minute or

so later another statue hurled itself at Stan’s feet.

127

128 Stan

Stan in his beloved crystal shop.

“Whoa!” laughed Stan. “It’s the old woman whose house

this used to be. She doesn’t like me because she knows I only

work with sixth dimensional beings …”

I must have been looking at Stan strangely as he studied

me for a moment and then began to chuckle. “You think I’m

weird, don’t you?”

“Not in the slightest,” I replied, “I’ve had lots of similar

experiences myself.” I held out my hand in introduction but

Stan waved it away.

“I don’t do that,” he said. And before I knew it, I was envel-

oped in a body-crushing bear hug as introductions were made.

“I’m Stan!”

We chatted about our mutual interest in the otherworldly,

at which point my friend, Charmaine walked into the room. I

Stan 129

didn’t have time to warn her before Stan had swooped upon

her and her petite frame disappeared into the folds of his voluminous flannel shirt.

“I’m Stan!” he said again.

“Charmaine …” came the muffled reply.

It was getting close to school pick up time, so we decided

we had better make tracks, as it was a good forty minute drive home.

“So where are you guys from anyway?” asked Stan.

“Kalamunda,” I said. “We’re hills girls.”

“Really?” Stan laughed as he pulled out his business card,

“Me too. Come by and visit me at my shop some time …”

Unsurprisingly, Stan’s business was a new-age style store

which specialised in crystals. It was nestled at the end of a long driveway; a large converted shed in the middle of the bush. As well as having more crystals than I had ever seen in one place, Stan also sold all manner of spiritual paraphernalia. There

were pendulums, talismans, dream catchers and jewellery. The

was also a healthy population of statues, many of which were

Buddhas. Stan’s store was a haven of treasures, especially for someone as spiritually-minded as me.

There was a shrine-like set-up in the far corner, which is

where Stan did readings and aura cleansing for his clients. He often performed these rituals with the aid of a Selenite obe-lisk-shaped rod.

Having already become acquainted with Stan’s rambunc-

tious ways, I was not perturbed when he ushered me towards

the shrine area.

“Come on!” he urged. “Let’s see what’s going on with you.”

130 Stan

Taking the crystal rod, he then proceeded to pass it before

each of my chakras, to check whether I had any energetic

blockages.

It was my solar plexus chakra which commandeered the

most attention, with Stan announcing it was positively brim-

ming with
effluent.

“Gotta get rid of this,” he said, holding the rod perpendic-

ularly to my body. It was as if he was using a crystal hose to leach out the negativity which had been polluting my chakra.

“Geez!” he said after a few minutes, “Where’s all this fear

coming from? You’ll be glad to see the back of this …”

I didn’t go into it with Stan at the time, but I suspected that the fear I was carrying was the result of what I now referred to as my
poltergeist days,
and quite likely to be what was holding me back from developing my clairvoyance.

I have no idea if it was psychosomatic or a direct result of

Stan’s intervention, but I definitely felt a new lightness once the cleansing was done.

Stan then moved behind me and immediately focussed on

the area just over my left shoulder blade, where I had been

experiencing a sensation of pressure and tingling for the past month.

I had thought the sensation was associated with my grand-

mother,
Baka
, as I most commonly felt it when I was in my kitchen. I had the impression that she was standing behind me

supervising my culinary endeavours! Baka had been an accom-

plished chef, and I always feel particularly close to her when I’m cooking. Since the sensation felt as though someone was

placing their hand just beneath my shoulder, I interpreted it as a comforting, supportive presence. Stan, however, disagreed.

“Who
is
that?” he asked.

Stan 131

“Yeah, who is it?” I asked uneasily. I was taken aback that

Stan had zoned in an area I hadn’t given any indication of

being of concern to me.

“No, I’m asking you!” he replied.

I was intrigued but also a little anxious.

“Is it my granny?” I asked hopefully. But I already knew

by Stan’s reaction that it was not a positive energy that he was picking up on.

“No, no. Definitely
not
your grandmother! Someone has

attached themselves to you, see how they’re making a bee-line

for your heart?”

This was starting to feel a little creepy, and had I not been

feeling the pressure sensation on my back I might have been

dubious. But it did seem more than coincidental that Stan was

focussing his attentions on that very spot.

“No dramas,” he said, reaching for his trusty Selenite

rod. He held it firmly to my back, and in what can best be

described as a pulling sensation, the energy began leaching out of my back.

“Now, it might try to attach itself to you again, so if you

start to feel it make sure you tell it to eff off!”

I was hopeful that Stan’s cleansing ritual had been effective, and indeed for at least the next couple of weeks I thought it had been. Then one morning, as I threw on my bathrobe and

rushed about preparing for work, I felt the familiar pressure

suddenly descend upon me. It lodged itself firmly between

my shoulder blades. As Stan had instructed me, I lashed at my

back with a flicking motion, all the while telling the so-called entity to
eff-off!

It was barely a minute later that I began to laugh, as I

realised how ridiculous I must’ve looked. Especially since I

132 Stan

quickly realised the pressure wasn’t due to a ghostly presence after all. What I’d imagined to be an entity trying to attach

itself to me, was in reality the hood of my bathrobe. In my

haste to put it on, the hood had become tucked into the back

of the robe, crumpling itself up into a firm lump of towelling which pressed against my back.

It just goes to show, jumping to conclusions can make you

look ridiculously foolish! I was thankful that no one was there to witness my little back-slapping performance and resolved to assess situations more carefully in the future. It’s the cardinal rule of paranormal investigations, rule out all logical explana-tions first. After this episode, I make sure to always do so …

Although I didn’t meet Deb until mid-2011, I’d known of her

for several years beforehand. Deb was a high-profile televi-

sion reporter, and has also worked as a producer on numer-

ous well-known news and current affairs programs. Although

our paths first crossed in a professional capacity, we soon recognised that we were kindred spirits and became good friends.

Deb’s mother, Doris, passed away in 2010 and wasted no

time in making herself known to me. This was a little awk-

ward, as the first time Deb and I met was in her role as TV

producer. She was interviewing me as part of an audition for

an upcoming TV show.

Doris wasn’t put off by the fact that this was supposed to

be a professional meeting. She was determined to take advan-

tage of my clairvoyance and came through regardless. Her

relentless bright flashing was hard to dismiss, so I eventually succumbed to Doris’s wishes and told Deb about the persistent presence beside her. All I could see was a bright flashing 133

134 Deb

light; at this point I had no idea that the spirit reaching out to me was Deb’s mother.

Over the years I have managed to discern some predictable

patterns with regard to spirit presences and the ways in which they identify themselves. It appears that they place themselves in particular positions in order to show their relationship to the person they are connected to.

Spirit guides usually sit just above the left shoulder, quite

often appearing within the person’s aura. They appear as vivid pin-pricks of intense light, which sometimes go on to manifest as white, glowing figures.

Male presences generally sit on the dominant side; so for

a right-handed person, they will place themselves on the per-

son’s right. The opposite is true for female energies, who generally place themselves on the less dominant side. They are

distinguishable from spirit guides by sitting a little further away than the aura-inhabiting guides.

When I see spirit lights directly above someone’s head, I

know these energies to be those of departed children.

So with this knowledge, I could surmise that Deb’s spirit

was a female relative. When she told me that the presence was

most likely to be her mother, Doris, confirmation came as an

even more vivid flash.

Talking about Doris seemed to give her additional energy,

as her presence became progressively more palpable as the

afternoon progressed. Deb and I spoke about the ways in

which spirits let us know that they’re around, the most com-

mon of which are subtle energy manipulations. Since spirits

are a pure form of energy themselves, it’s relatively simple for them to affect other types of energy to make their presence

felt.

Deb 135

Radio waves and electrical signals are particularly easy for

spirits to manipulate, and it’s therefore common for lights to flicker or significant songs to play on the radio when spirits are around.

Deb was intrigued by the concept of spirits affecting the

physical environment and we discussed the subject length.

Our conversation gained added gravity shortly after she left.

As Deb drove away from my house, she couldn’t help smiling.

The song which was blasting out of her car radio was
Spirit in
the Sky
…

It was some months later that I drove out to Deb’s country

property for a morning coffee date. Although we had main-

tained regular contact since meeting, I was looking forward to actually catching up face-to-face.

It seems Doris had been looking forward to it too, and was

excitedly shining her spirit light from the moment I arrived.

“Deb … I think your mum’s visiting you again. The flashing

light on your left is going ballistic!”

I suggested we give Doris the chance to prove her presence

further by taking a few photos. I had brought my camera along

for this very purpose, knowing that Doris wouldn’t waste an

opportunity to show herself to her daughter. Deb suggested

we take a photo near her mother’s prized possession; her much

loved piano. Doris had been a highly accomplished pianist and

derived great joy from sharing her gift of music.

“OK Mum,” said Deb as she stood before the piano. “I

would really love it if you’d appear in this photo with me …”

With one click she was there; a bright and beautiful orb posi-

tioned just above Deb’s left shoulder. We also noticed several less distinct orbs to Deb’s right, the largest of which seemed to dominate the shot.