Spiritualism and the Paranormal

The more you want something, the sooner it becomes a reality as the saying goes. Think of the genie in the bottle who grants you only three wishes. If you're not careful, however, what arrives most of the time isn't what you had in mind. Such can be the case with the spirit world. In this story, a group of young adults drive around late into the night looking for a thrill and get the fright of their lives. Aerial view of West Seattle and Alki beach. A short bridge in West Seattle spans over a narrow, but deep, ravine popular for suicides near the Admiral Theater and Alki Beach. Rumor has it that passers-by would see the figure of one of the many pitiful souls who took their own lives by jumping off the span landing onto the pavement below. They say that it stares at people at the beach near the scene of his death. Along side him is his dog who followed his master into the afterlife. Like many teenagers, Mike, a relative of his and a couple of friends, knowing of this tal...

I drove home that early morning going over the events that had taken place within the past hour (“ The Uninvited Passenger ”). I mentally reviewed Tina's story – her ability, her history with her mother, the strong scent of perfume, the hairs standing on end at the back of my neck. I no longer felt scared, but I had a sense of validation that these phenomena existed. The further I got from Tina's, the more curious I became of her abilities. I wanted to know more. Over next few days, Tina and I talked about her ability to see spirits and about the spirit that followed her that night in great detail. Tina had tried to ignore the spirit one day, she said, and in retaliation, the spirit unleashed the most foul stench that lingered for days. It was the smell of death, of decomposition, of putrefaction. It was so bad that it didn't escape the noses of the people whom she lived with. They searched the house for any small animals that might have snuck into the house and had die...

Since it's October with Halloween at the end of this month, I decided to detail an experience I had with the paranormal around this time of year several years ago. The odd fact of the encounter was that it was not associated with any particular place. It was, in fact, connected with a particular person.   In the late Autumn of 2004, just before Halloween, I was in between jobs. I was not overly worried about my employment situation because I knew that it was just a matter of time. I had enough experience in my field that I was receiving e-mail messages from recruiters and companies that I could extend my "vacation" as I thought of it. Instead of looking over my messages or searching through job listings, I spent much of it with two friends: Tina and Yvette.   "... It was the drive that morning when something followed us..."    I met Tina through a mutual friend. She was living with her boyfriend in a house that our mutual friend's father owned. After tal...

[ The following story is a first-hand, cautionary account about the Ouija board and does not promote it’s casual use. It is NOT a game. It is NOT a toy. If you decide to use the board, please take spiritual precautions such as saying a prayer before use. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! All names are fictitious to protect the identities of those mentioned in the story. ] Within a few weeks of using the board , we had already noticed odd goings-around. We had contacted several spirits, but the one we happened to encounter the most was a Filipino nanny of sorts who we called “Ya-Ya”. We knew that just invoking her name brought us some sort of “bad luck”. My cousin who didn’t actively participate in our sessions came down with a case of sudden fatigue believed to have been brought on after seeing a shadow person. But, we weren’t expecting what was yet to come. My Aunts Have an Accident While we spent the after resting from berry picking, my aunt Pat and my aunt Lena went to downtown Port Orchar...

Evan had finally decided to move out of the house where he experienced many paranormal events. Jeb had taken down the last box to his car waiting on the sidewalk. Evan was alone in the house and closed the bedroom door. It began to rattle as if someone were trapped inside and trying to get out! Rattled himself, Evan reluctantly opened the door out of reluctant curiosity to find that the room was indeed empty. After closing the door once more and for the last time, it began to rattle followed by knocks and scratching. Not knowing how to cope, Evan picked up his phone and dialed whatever number he could! He told the friend that he dialed everything that had just happened. He’d told many of those on his contact list about the goings-on in the house and had solicited support. Although many of the event were unnerving he felt a bit more at ease that others believed him and that he was no longer going insane. The kind soul on the other line patiently listened while Evan told about th...

As a card reader, or anyone who gives advice or guidance for that matter, you have to keep in mind that main focus during a reading is the person you are reading for, the client. I doesn't matter how trivial you think of the subject. You don’t matter! Your client is paying you to give them insight. If you don't keep that in mind, you tarnish your credibility and erode the trust with your client. They may even stop the reading or ask for their money back. What’s worse, they tell their friends about how awful you were. Keeping focus on the client’s concerns is especially crucial with a "cold" reading sessions. These are readings with clients that you have not read before – They are complete strangers. But, you run the gambit with new clients. They may never had a reading before. They might be scared or apprehensive – They don’t know what to expect. Or, they have had a reading once before. They might already have someone they go to regularly and they wanted to just g...

"... The first thing to hit me was the strong scent of vanilla. I commented to Mike about the vanilla scent asking if it were a new car freshener. That's when Mike just came out with it: He had an attachment!" In this story, a friend had a paranormal experience in his early twenties under a bridge known for suicides. Fast forward years later, he wants to experience the same "thrill" of having a paranormal encounter, but this time he makes a serious mistake and the spirit attaches to him. Another Trip to the Bridge Last year, I hosted a small impromptu dinner of a few friends. It was October with Halloween drawing near. Our discussions around the table centered around ideas of what costumes we were going to wear on the 31st, if we were going watch the latest Paranormal Activity movie and the retelling of ghost stories. As usual for this time of year I told the story of the uninvited passenger to my guests, and how it was the closest encounter with the p...