Read Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side Online
Authors: Barbara Parks
Tags: #Body; Mind & Spirit, #on vacation, #personal journey of gradually accepting and embracing the clairvoyant gifts that allow her to see spirits. She shares dramatic and heartwarming stories of interacting with spirits who turn up everywhere: at home, #Traumatized by vicious poltergeist attacks that lasted five years, #she receives a miraculous visit from him. This joyous experience marks her first step toward healing—and opening up to spirit world.In the Presence of Spirits chronicles Barbara’s uplifting, #Barbara Parks never imagined that her deep-rooted fear of ghosts would disappear. A momentous turning point occurs when, #still mourning the sudden death of a beloved friend, #these amazing true tales are convincing reminders that our loved ones are never far away., #and accompanying her patients. From the departed uncle that protects Barbara’s young children from grave injury to the child spirits who bring comfort to their parents, #Supernatural
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.