Gunpowder And Ghosts

[poliphilo]

I think bonfire night is dying out. There were very few fireworks last night- and they stopped early. I smelled bonfires around tea-time, but I didn't see any.

Two explanations. One is that it's being swamped by Halloween. The other is that our safety-first culture is killing it. I saw a news item a few days back about a police task force in Liverpool that was going round confiscating "illegal" fireworks. They'd collected over a ton. Spoilsports, I thought.

A third possibility is that I've got a skewed view of things from living in a Muslim area.

Living TV had a show in which "acclaimed spirit medium" Derek Acorah investigated sites associated with the Gunpowder Plot, picking up on residual energy and talking to ghosts.  Professor Ron Hutton, historian of Wicca, was scoring his performance. Very impressive it was too, which points- I suppose- to his having done his research- which wasn't always the case on Most Haunted.  It sounds absurd, but this was actually quite a neat little history lesson- and I learned things I hadn't known before. When Acorah enacted the last moments of the gang's leader Robert Catesby-  who died clutching an image of the Virgin after charging a line of musketeers-  it was curiously moving.  Terrorists may be wicked in all manner of ways, but don't try telling me they aren't brave.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Acorah's credibility was totally destroyed by that episode. I believe in psychism. But I think most psychics- at least the ones who make a living at it- mix a good deal of showmanship and trickery into their acts.

I have a friend who sees spirits- and is terrified by it- and very much in denial.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I wonder if it actually wears off if you go public with it - the gos punishing people for making a living out of it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We used to read Tarot semi-professionally. We were quite good at it. It supported us through a brief period when we really needed the money, then when the need disappeared so did the gift.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

I know in many societies that practice Shamanism it's not something that's wanted. One of my Master's collegues did his research in Seoul and there was one guy whose guiding spirit was a female and she forbade him any relationships with women so it's pretty tough.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

If my spirit guide started bossing me around like that I think I'd sack her and get another.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

The spirit chooses you, not the other way round!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I'm not sure I care for that arrangement

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

That has been my experience. I've known two people who could 'see' spirits, principally through their dreams. Both wished that they didn't. One drank heavily, because the alcohol interfered with remembering his dreams. The other eventually learned to banish, in order to ward off the worst of her visitations.