Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side (23 page)

by the physical assault.

Mrs Perkins reminded Austin that they needed to pray for

protection prior to entering the disturbed household, and thus armed with their spiritual armour, they entered the house

once again.

The feeling of oppression was evident at once, and a sense

of negativity overcame the pair as they entered the house. A

menacing-looking old woman lingered down the hallway,

a ghostly apparition who identified herself as the woman’s

mother-in-law. She hated her son’s wife whilst she was alive

and death had done little to assuage her venom. In fact she

188 Austin

hated her all the more as the daughter-in-law had taken pos-

session of her most prized possessions; her jewellery and her china.

The ghost made her intentions very clear. Unless the fam-

ily relinquished her possessions, she would continue to make

their lives a misery until they conceded to her wishes.

Surprisingly, the family didn’t agree to the old woman’s

terms immediately, as the pieces in question were very valu-

able. Austin was incredulous that they would even contem-

plate keeping the contentious items, and reminded the family

that their safety and peace were infinitely more valuable than any monetary value.

Finally a compromise was reached and they agreed to get

rid of the jewellery and the china, sharing them amongst fam-

ily members rather than destroying them or just randomly

giving them away.

Whilst the troubled household resumed normality shortly

after, the recipients of the old woman’s possessions began to experience similar disturbances within their own homes. Austin and Mrs Perkins were summoned once again.

Mrs Perkins made contact immediately and the dead

woman made herself very clear. As bitter and attached to her

belongings as she was, she was adamant that no one should

have her things! She was completely earthbound and fixated

with her material possessions, and couldn’t bear to see anyone, not even her own family, taking ownership of her earthly treasures. It was beyond her comprehension that she was dead and

had no use for tea cups, dinner sets, necklaces and rings. She refused to be convinced.

It was eventually decided that the dead woman’s posses-

sions had to be destroyed, as she would undoubtedly follow

Austin 189

the items to whichever house they were taken, and wreak her

jealous havoc accordingly.

Under the supervision of Austin and Mrs Perkins, the old

woman’s belongings were gathered up and taken to the rub-

bish tip. To ensure that no junkyard scavengers found them

and took them home, they were bundled up in boxes and then

destroyed. The family paid one of the tip employees fifty dol-

lars and watched as he crushed the boxes with his bulldozer

until they were no longer recognisable.

It seems the bitter old woman was satisfied with their fate,

preferring to see her items destroyed rather than in the hands of others. There were no further disturbances after this day.

Austin had only one other negative experience, this one

instigated by his daughter fooling around with a Ouija Board.

The phone rang just a little after 1 am. Austin could barely

make out the voice of his stricken daughter, as she tried to

speak through her hysterical sobs. She was absolutely terrified, that was apparent, but it took much calming and cajoling to

ascertain why.

Austin’s heart sank as the facts came to light. His daugh-

ter and her friends had spent the evening playing with a Ouija board, and had unleashed a throng of angry ghosts who were

at that very moment clawing at the walls. Austin could hear

his daughter’s friends screaming in the background. He had to

move quickly.

His daughter told him that there were demons peering in

at the windows. She could barely get the words out.

“Just keep praying!” said Austin. “I’m on my way …”

Thankfully his daughter lived just a couple of suburbs

away, so he was soon banging on her front door. The young-

190 Austin

sters screamed, not realising it was their rescuer and not an

evil entity demanding entry.

Austin told me that the sense of negativity and evil was

overwhelming, he was in no doubt that the group had opened

the door to low-vibrational entities and that they had firmly

taken hold. He felt their resistance as he wandered through

the apartment, repeating the same prayer through each room

as he sent them to the light.

It was daylight by the time the energy lifted and thankfully

other than the legacy of deeply ingrained fear, there were no further repercussions. Needless to say Austin’s daughter had

a stern talking to, as a minister’s daughter she should have

known better!

Austin tells me that his church fields countless phone calls

each week from people who believe they have evil entities in

their homes, and many of these arrive via a Ouija board invi-

tation. What to many begins as a bit of light-hearted fun

often ends as their greatest nightmare, and Austin can’t stress enough the dangers of experimenting with the unknown.

In most instances these entities can be moved on with a

house cleansing and dedicated prayer. But there are some enti-

ties who steadfastly refuse to budge, so of course it’s best not to invite them into your home in the first place!

There are safe ways to establish spirit contact, and in inex-

perienced hands, the Ouija board is certainly not one of them.

Protective rituals and prayers need to be in place and only then can we safely breach the divide between the spirit world and

our own.

Austin’s parting invitation to his church’s
Open Circle
was all the encouragement I needed, as I was well and truly ready

to take the next step. The circle was scheduled for the follow-Austin 191

ing evening, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would

be there. If I had seen two spirits just by chatting in Austin’s office, what would I see during the circle?

The next day couldn’t come quickly enough. I couldn’t

wait to find out.

My cousin, Anita and I arrived at the Spiritualist Church

an hour before the circle was due to begin, as we were keen

to gauge the atmosphere before the meditation. Austin wel-

comed us warmly, and showed us a photograph of the long-

dead Mrs Perkins, a faded framed portrait which sat on top

of the organ. There was also a brass bust of the church’s

esteemed spiritual teacher, and the inanimate Mrs Perkins

seemed to preside over the proceedings from the corner of the

room.

Thirty or so chairs were arranged in a large circle and Aus-

tin invited us to choose a seat. It wasn’t long before we were ushered into a small anteroom for healing, to ensure we were

at our most spiritually receptive before the session began.

As each person walked into the church, the routine was

the same. They would share a brief exchange with Austin, be

invited into the small healing room, and then resume their

position within the circle. By the time eight o’clock arrived

every seat was taken.

The main lights were turned off and the only source of

illumination came from a solitary blue light globe hanging in

the corner of the room (just above Mrs Perkins’ portrait, giv-

ing her an eerie, otherworldly glow.)

The atmosphere was befittingly spooky and for a brief

moment I felt vulnerable and exposed. This was starting to

feel very much like a séance, and the
warning spiel
prior to the start of the meditation unsettled me all the more.

192 Austin

A gentleman named Phill was to lead the meditation, and

his sombre warning verged on the alarming.

“If you are threatened in any shape or form, or if some-

one tries to take over your body, immediately envelop yourself in Christ’s golden light. Cross your arms and ankles. Demand

that they leave. You may notice people’s faces changing in

the darkness, and see the spirits gathering around them. Take

note of what you see and at the conclusion of the meditation

you will be invited to describe the entities you have encoun-

tered …”

Phill then led the congregation in prayer, firstly inviting us to join him in the Lord’s Prayer, after which we said a prayer of protection. The circle was ready to begin.

The meditation was not at all what I had imagined.

Rather than being guided through a group mediation as I had

expected, Phill simply told us we were at Safety Bay Beach and to enjoy the experience. He left us to our own devices and said he’d be back for us later
.

Just as we began to fall into the depths of our subcon-

scious, a woman to my left began to cough violently (she later told us that she felt as though an entity had been trying to

strangle her …) She stood from her position in the circle and

began to leave, upon which the stillness was abruptly shat-

tered.

“Sit down!” yelled Phill. “Never get out of your seat! It’s

dangerous to break the circle!”

“For God’s sake!” muttered Austin under his breath,

appalled that someone had broken the cardinal sin of circle-

sitting.

“Just stay in your seat,” repeated Phill slightly more calmly, as the chastened woman sheepishly resumed her chair. I had

Austin 193

no doubt that had the lights been brighter we’d have seen her

cheeks blazing with mortification. Perhaps ungraciously I later wondered whether her evil entity story was concocted to extricate herself from her embarrassing situation.

We were once again encouraged to breathe deeply and

Phill asked us to return to the tranquillity of Safety Bay Beach.

At first I tried to comply with Phill’s instructions, and

imagined myself bobbing in a brilliant, sun-sparkled ocean.

But as my relaxation deepened and I began to feel presences

around me, I couldn’t help opening my eyes to scan the room.

The blue-lit darkness was perfect, just bright enough to

see the circle of people around me. The spirits glowed iridescently around the sitters, some in between and some behind.

They were calming, benevolent presences and I closed my eyes

again and fell deeper into trance.

It wasn’t long before I felt my right hand being grasped, at

first lightly and then more firmly. My hand began to tingle. I then felt as though there was energy wrapping itself around

it. It was hard to work out whether my hand had found itself

in a spiralling energy vortex, or whether something was being

wound around the hand itself. It was like a buzzing sensation

systematically wrapping itself around my hand, increasing in

intensity with every revolution.

Of course I had to open my eyes again to look.
Who was

touching my hand?
Seeing no one, I stole a quick glance across the room, my eyes drawn to the inanimate bust of Mrs Perkins. A

pale green glow emanated from her likeness, until there beside the bust floated the form of Mrs Perkins herself!

Any doubts as to the identity of the floating spirit were dis-

sipated when one of the sitters later began conveying mes-

sages from Mrs Perkins, and I wondered whether the woman

194 Austin

had also seen the greenish mist materialise into the form of

the church’s long-dead mentor. But still lacking confidence in sharing my visions I just sat listening to the experiences of others, silently comparing them to my own.

I did however mention the winding, buzzing sensation

which was still affecting my right hand, hopeful that someone

could possibly shed some light on the strange phenomena that

I was at a loss to understand.

Anita also experienced a strange sensation, as what felt like

a strong hand pressed firmly on her right shoulder.

At the conclusion of the meditation, Austin asked if any-

one had any messages they would like to share. I was singled

out several times, and received a mosaic of descriptions which fit the profile of my late grandmother. She was described as a homebody; someone who would regale us with witty one-lin-ers which often seemed at odds with her old-school traditions.

Her love of cooking defined her, as did her talent for crochet and needlework, all of which were mentioned on the night.

Since I had often felt the presence of
Baka (
especially when I’m cooking or listening to Croatian Folk music)
I wasn’t at all surprised to hear she was around me.

I was however delighted when Austin offered further con-

firmation of Baka’s presence, by telling Anita that the spirit in between us was her grandmother too. Anita didn’t doubt him

for a second, knowing that the protective hand on her shoul-

der could belong to none other than her beloved grandmother.

I wondered if it had been Baka who had been holding and

radiating energy into my right hand.

By the time we got home Anita and I felt exhausted but

happy. Nothing particularly earth-shattering had occurred

(and indeed the validations of Baka’s presence may well have

Austin 195

been little more than lucky guesses) but the physical sensa-

tions we experienced reminded us that something inexplica-

ble had transpired. We would be doing ourselves an injustice