24th March... I travelled north to Perth
and with the cold wind that met me I could have mistakenly thought I was at the
North Pole. But as soon as I entered
the church the usual warm welcome made me forget about the cold outside. Ivy, Michelle and the rest of the committee
make everyone feel welcome.
26th... Not so far north this time, I was
heading for ASK Cumbernauld, another church like Perth which has one of its
main aims, a genuine and personal greeting to all that enter.
28th... Over the past few months I have
had the privilege to take a development circle and though only a few attend the
enthusiasm and standard of commitment is second to none.
1st & 2nd
April I was at the Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church, Berkley Street, G3
7DS.
This was after an absence of a year because of booking difficulties and
it was great to be back on the platform of the friendly church in the centre of
the city. Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church
64 Berkeley Street
Glasgow
Scotland
Tel: 0141 221 6201
Glasgow
Scotland
Tel: 0141 221 6201
|
4th... ASK<Dreghorn and again a
special pleasure to serve here as I started out at ASK,Stewarton which this
group took over from when the latter closed its doors.
6th...
The second of my workshops at the Glasgow Association.
7th...
It was over to our capital city and the Edinburgh Spiritualist Church in Albany
Street. EH1 3QH. This church is not far
from the bus station at St Andrews Square and only a little further to Waverley
Station. The Church is run by a small but dedicated committee and is open
Sun. 6:30pm Divine Service with ClairvoyanceMon. 7:00pm Healing
Thu. 7:30pm Clairvoyance
Fri. 7:30pm Open Awareness Circle
Sat. Specials as advertised.
Tel: 0131-556-1749
9th... The members and committee of the
Dalneigh Spiritualist Church gave me a great welcome. I am always impressed by the enthusiasm those
in Inverness and the surrounding area have for Spiritualism.
11th The Arbroath Spiritualist Centre 20-22
Commerce Street, Arbroath
Angus, DD11 1NB. Tel: 01241 875 979. Arbroath is still a holiday destination for many so if you are in the area why not pop along on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm.
Angus, DD11 1NB. Tel: 01241 875 979. Arbroath is still a holiday destination for many so if you are in the area why not pop along on a Thursday evening at 7.30pm.
The McArthur family from Dunfermline are well known in
Spiritualism in Scotland. Jock, Helen
and Liz being founder members of (DASK) Dunfermline Association of Spiritualist
Knowledge. Many special days have been
arranged by DASK to further people’s thirst for knowledge about Spiritualism in
the Fife area.
I have asked Kerry McLeod .
“Helen
was born on 23rd August 1943, the eldest of 7 children.
"Always
smiling"
“Always
family orientated”
“A
wonderful sister”
“The
best mother in law in the world”
And
“A
true specimen of pure kindness.”
Thanks Kerry...
Marie mails...“Would you like to tell us about an unusual research case you have been
on, one that is different from the
rest and not scary”...
Marie - there is one that stands out a
mile. As I usually do I have
asked for permission from the family to share this experience. The names being changed to protect the family
and in this case the place where it took place.
I was asked if I would go out to see
if I sensed anything of a paranormal nature at a ruined cottage. I agreed as long as I was told nothing about
what others had experienced or the history of the area. I met up with Robert, Jean and their daughter
Stacy at their home on the edge of a small village. Also tagging along was Tex
the dog and Ceara the cat which was carried part of the way by Robert. A biting
easterly wind was blowing and large snowflakes were beging to fall as the
family escorted me along a narrow country lane to the ruins of an old
cottage. Not just the ruins of any old
cottage, as it turned out, but the ruins of what is a very special old
cottage.
Robert grew up in this area and when
he was young children roamed all over the fields, but never up this particular
lane. Stories of the lane and cottage being
haunted not only kept the children, away but also the adults. Over
the past decade or so when a property is put up for sale in the area it is usually
bought by an outsider, and usually by those of retirement age. So there are fewer
children in the area and the story of the haunted lane and a cottage is seldom
mentioned these days.
As I got closer to the cottage I did
feel a difference in the atmosphere. It
did not seem as cold and yet the cottage was not sheltered from the bitterly
cold easterly wind. It is difficult to
put into words there was something friendly, comfortable and relaxing about the
place. I certainly had no negative feelings which I thought I would have been
experiencing by now, especially as the family had requested I visit the area.
No matter how one tries not to second guess what is going on, the thought of a
negative situation it is always at the back of one’s mind when called out to a
property etc.
I then saw something strange. Stacey
was running at the back of the property and something black was running behind her.
It turned out to be a crow and at first I thought it was attacking her. But it was running along with her as if
playing. I then noticed that there was quite a bit of the local wildlife all
closer than one would have expected when there were humans, a dog and a cat
about.
Stacey then took a plastic bag from
her mother and started feeding the birds.
To my surprise three landed on her arm with several more sitting on the
ruins of a wall and taking small morsels from her hand. I looked around and saw two deer around fifty
yards from us. Jean told me that in
spring, summer and autumn there would be lots more animals close to us at this
spot. Jean asked me to take a look at
Ceara and Tex, who were both sitting down like they would on a hot sunny day
but the wind was still blowing and a few snowflakes still falling.
I wrote in my notebook at that stage
there is something strange, then scored
that out and replaced it with something magical
about this place. It was certainly different from any place I had been
asked to investigate before or since.
When we got back to the family home
and sitting over a cup of tea, Robert told me why I was invited to the ruins of
this cottage.
Stacey was born with learning
difficulties and when she could walk she was seldom out on her own. She was
happy to play in her own backyard with Tex and Ceara. But one day she did decide to roam
and after a full-scale search by half the village she was found sitting quietly
in the ruins of this cottage. Over the next few months Stacey would constantly
try to get out of the back gate and make her way towards this ruined cottage.
The little one’s parents decided that several times a week they would take her to
the cottage with Tex and even Ceara tagging along at times. This became a
regular walk two or three times a week and Stacey seemed content with this arrangement as she did not try
to go out on her own.
On their visit to the cottage Robert
and Jean started to find it so relaxing and they looked forward to going there
as much as Stacey. Then they started noticing something else. The
wildlife around the ruins did not seem to be as suspicious of them even with
Tex and Ceara being with them. Stacy
could get closer to the wildlife than her parents but even they could get
closer to the likes of deer, badger, herons, squirrels etc than they normally
could elsewhere. Stacy never touched any animal or bird even though some did
come as close as an arm’s length from her.
Robert had never got so close to
deer as he did at the ruins, even after spending his whole life in the country.
It was not as if the little one had
food to entice these large animals close. The family spent some considerable time
telling me of the different incidents and different species of bird and animal
that had shown less fear of them around the cottage than they did elsewhere in
the countryside.
I asked the parents if they had got
anyone else out to look around the ruins.
Robert said that I was the first person he had mentioned this too. His first thought was to contact an old
school chum who was now a clergyman and stayed at the other end of the
country. But after doing a little
research on the Internet he decided it was more of a situation for a
medium. I suggested he asked his friend to look and see what he experienced. The friend
did come out and he was amazed as I had been when visiting the cottage. He
said “Even though I have spent most my
life in the country, at the cottage he got closer to the local wildlife than he
ever had done.
So what have we here?
A ley-line causing this effect? We could find no connection with this or any
ancient tales about this area.
Bob – the clergyman - put forward the
suggestion that someone had stayed in that cottage at one time and most of
their time taking care on injured and unwanted animals – a modern-day St
Francis. That had also been on my
mind. We looked into the history of the area and as
far as we could find out the cottage had been uninhabited since 1932. We have names of owners and tenants of the
building going back a few centuries but we were unable to find any information
about them. A local historian did give
us a few bits and pieces but nothing appeared to connect to what we had
experienced. Both Bob and I had met
people who have had an amazing rapport with animals but not an area where
animals acted as they did at the site of the ruined cottage.
The four of us decided that we could
go no further forward with this and to ask others to come in to do some
research was not on - as this was Stacy’s special place and it should remain
this way.
This was a few years ago and neither Bob
or myself has visited the cottage since but I have kept in touch with Robert
and Jean. Little has changed, Stacy
visits the cottage two or three times a week always accompanied with one or
both of her parents. Tex has passed on
but Ceara still goes to the cottage with the family.
One concern I had was that what if a
hunter stumbles across that cottage with the animals being so placid and not
frightened of humans, According to Robert this has either not happened or if
such a person did come across this area the animals would be aware of their
intentions and not have been so trusting.
This year there were changes to the course and we
will have to wait to see if such alterations will reduce the number of deaths
or the changes were just cosmetic surgery to pacify the general public in the
short term. What the National Hunt
fraternity could, if they really love their horses so much, is to ban the use
of the whip in all National Hunt races.
Unless it is used by a rider to correct a horse which has veered off a
straight line and is likely to cause an accident. Any jockey using a whip to improve the
position of his mount should be given a lengthy ban and the horse losing any
prize money it may have earned during that race. Plans could be put in place for this new
ruling to start at the 2014 Grand National meeting
Some of the most horrific scenes on TV screens over
the years is riders in the Grand
National using their whips like carpet beaters on horses at the end of this
gruelling 4 ½ mile race over very large fences?
I was shocked on a TV programme the morning after
the Grand National to hear three people connected to this industry – yes
industry – not a sport – come out with the following. “We are
not here to defend the Grand National – we are here to promote it”. And
several comments similar too “Horses jump
obstacle in the wild”. Yes – but not
so many and not at such a speed in so short a time.
“Horses
like to jump – look at them in races where they may have fallen, and got rid of their rider. They continue to run with the field and jump
the fences”. Yes
– let us look at that situation. After a
fall a horse may be in panic mode, see nowhere to get off the course and follow
its herd instinct.
Let us look at the situation a little more
in-depth... It is easy for a racing
commentator to say “A particular horse
has fallen but it is unscathed”. If the same commentator fell while out
walking I am sure he would feel some degree of pain, so what about a ½ ton
horse falling while jumping at racing pace must also feel pain.
What can Spiritualism or Spiritualists do in this
situation?
Spiritualism is not a religion that issues decrees
on its members to do this or not to do this or that. So I would not expect any of our Spiritual
organizations to come out publicly in this debate. To all Spiritualists I say – look again at
our 5th Principle “Personal Responsibility “and then make up your mind. Remember... a percentage of every bet on
horse racing goes to the upkeep of the horse racing industry.
...........................................................................................................................
I have decided to leave out the comments
I received on my “2013 a crucial year for
Spiritualism” but will include some in my next blog.
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