Ghost Story I am going to talk about what helped me write my ghost story. It involves a lot of my life and background. I am a witch, for one, which was part of it. I couldn’t have written it otherwise. It is normal to me to smudge my apartment with sage on a Full Moon and perform divinations. I incorporated that into my writing and I realized I was writing about a character that is a witch. I thought, well, okay, but she is still a regular person. I have had many ‘experiences’ that have changed my beliefs. When I moved to Nova Scotia, due to the ley lines here and the strong energy, my mediumistic talents came out with a powerful bang. I had no knowledge or the training I have now. I predicted things that would happen to people and came true or psychically find people. It can happen to some people quietly that their psychic abilities come out or it can be The Big Bang like what happened in my case. It was out of control. I felt cursed and only now have the confidence in myself- and control. Having a control of it, I discovered, does not diminish the gifts. The other morning, as an example, I dreamed of a book about herbs and that morning I received the three copies of Essential Herbal magazine that recently published my article- a reprint of the Toxins in the Home article. I have lived in a supposedly haunted house for years. Weird things occurred there, that I do not possess a ready explanation for. I could go on and on with a long list of things that happened. Things like at night I would open the basement door and there would be a hush, or a door would be hard to open then slam on its own accord, lights floating to the ground at night, footsteps, cupboard doors opening and closing at night, objects rolling across the floor abnormally- not the way an object would usually roll across the floor, knockings, the bathtub filled with water on its own accord, sleep paralysis. I was not the only person to experience it in that house. Sleep paralysis is a feeling that something is sitting on you as you sleep, causing strange dreams from the fear and you are unable to scream, move, and barely even breathe. It is terrifying and brief, but terrifying. We felt chased when we were leaving the basement. Sleep paralysis can be googled for more information, if you choose. Another example – It all began one night when I was at home with my family. I had a strong feeling that something was wrong, in my solar plexus chakra. I experienced a vision of my brother’s friend, bent over in pain surrounded by a fiery red and orange aura. I knew he was in trouble and told this to my family, mystified by my vision. I did not understand why I was having the vision. I was confused about my experience and not sure what to tell my family or how they would react. I was experiencing the pain he was in. Fifteen minutes later, my brother’s friend arrived ill and in pain. We would learn later his kidneys had failed him. His mother arrived at our house and they went to the hospital together. I realize now Spirit was sending a message to me. I had not conversed with him that day or seen him until he arrived at our home. He has recovered well. Now I have studied the Spiritual and Psychic Development course from Level 1 to Level 3 from the Spiritual Sciences Fellowship. During the time of that course, which was eighteen weeks long, we meditated- think astral travel, gazed into crystals, and even held an séance. It was like going to Hogwarts. Ghosts, to me, signify unfinished business and a connection to the Otherworld, the other side, the final dimension. The other side or dimension is the last frontier that we have not yet explored, unlike the deepest blackest depth of the ocean or flying to the moon. We have never mastered or explored that final dimension because we need to die and return to life to be able to report about it. Rather difficult to do. I think an author needs a strong background in something, whatever that may be, to write well about something. I have read a lot of paranormal novels, which did not help me write mine any better, but that is another story. It helps to read widely in a genre you have chosen to write in. That background can be about anything though. I don’t like ghost hunters much. There is no point in hunting something as elusive and mysterious as a spirit. I also don’t like the term ‘ghost hunter’. To me, it is akin to hunting deer. A person should just stay calm and grounded and it will come to you. When that happens and if it happens, a person should send the spirit if it is a spirit to the Light. That is purely my opinion. Nine times out of ten, people are just filled with their own daily gripes and wishing for something dramatic to happen. People have to be grounded and centered- my training taught me that. If you keep wishing, you might get it but it won’t be what you wanted. A whole can of beans of trouble. A lot of people still treat psychics, mediums and the ilk like we are freaks. I believe that every one has a psychic, mediumistic gift or ability in them. Some ignore it, some know it and don’t use it, and some, like me, embrace it. We all have a sixth sense. It should be a natural thing, as natural as logic and common sense. We all share one thing in common- everyone loves a good ghost story!!