Monday, August 29, 2011

Contact with the Dead Through Dreams

I had an aunt and uncle who visited me and my family every summer since before I was even born. And every summer, my uncle would make his signature roasted chicken, which was the best I have ever eaten. The recipe was top secret---no one knew how he made it or what went into the recipe.

A few years ago, both my aunt and uncle died. Shortly afterwards, I began dreaming about them on a regular basis, like maybe once or twice a week, every week.

A while back, I got to thinking about the chicken recipe and how much my husband would love it, but I had no idea how to make it. I emailed my uncle's daughter, thinking she might know how he did it, but she was very vague and not much help.

So I decided to put the "contact" dreams to use and one night before bed, I said aloud to my uncle that I wanted him to come to me in a dream and tell me how to make his outstanding chicken recipe. 

That very night (I kid you not) I dreamed that I was outside in my flower garden and my uncle drove up in a car. He got out, we said hello and the next words out of his mouth were," To make the chicken, this is what you do...." And he proceeded to tell me what went in the recipe!

P.S. I also dream a LOT about a great aunt who has died. In those dreams, she always tells me how she is doing and what she is up to "on the other side". It's very cool!!
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Pennies!


Last year at my work, I began finding pennies in the strangest places.

Sometimes single ones, sometimes 2 or 3 together. They would be on shelves, on floorstands in the store, in my locker, the lunch room table, on the floor...really in odd places. Even on my doorstep at home. And I would find maybe as many as 10 in one day. At first it was sporadic---One day I'd find some, the next day, none, then some more the day after that. 

Eventually, it increased to where I was finding them every day. I didn't specifically look for them...they were just popping up wherever I was. 

These places might not seem that odd to you, but they seemed to be penny-free one minute and then the next I looked, there'd be a penny there.

I know in the past I mentioned on here that I did not really believe in the powers of the Ouija board anymore, but one day just for fun at my mother's house, we were messing around with it and right away it started talking about the pennies. To make a long story short, my brother who passed away when I was a baby, indicated that he was the one leaving the pennies around for me.

I thought a lot about this and so to "test" this theory, I asked out loud one evening that if he were truly leaving pennies for me, could he please leave a large amount of them, like piles of them, and then I would know that this was probably true.

About 2 days later, I was at work, but in the back stock room when my manager called me out front. She said a customer came up to the counter with a bag of pennies, saying she found them out in front of the store. Not knowing what else to do with them, she brought them in to us.

(Who would do that?? If you find money like that, wouldn't you either just keep it or leave it alone? I don't think I would turn it in at a store---after all, they are just pennies, not hundred dollar bills.)

My manager alarmingly handed them to me (I had been telling her for weeks about the penny thing happening to me). There tied up in a small clear plastic bag was about 50 pennies.
I still have them...and I have thanked my brother!

P.S. You may think my manager was playing a joke on me and she brought the bag of pennies herself, but she believes in all things weird and strange, plus she did not know I had asked to receive a pile of pennies. She was beside herself with bewilderment when a bag of pennies showed up!


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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Phantom Cars



How would you like to be sitting inside a perfectly good house, hear a car drive up outside, doors shutting, people talking and when you look out, there isn't anyone there?

It's a little disturbing.

This has happened at my mother's house several times, and there has usually been more than one witness. No alcohol or drugs were involved so you can cross that explanation off your list.

One of my brothers heard this while staying at the house alone a few years ago. Three times he heard the car, the doors, the people.....three times he looked outside and nothing was there. I will leave out the part where he became so frightened he got in his own car and left....but too bad I can't mention that because it emphasizes how unnerving the incident was. We are talking about a man who doesn't believe in a whole lot of paranormal stuff---unless he experiences it for himself.

Myself and my ex-husband were in the bathroom of that house together one day. No one else was home at the time. The bathroom window faces the driveway and when you take into account the lack of insulation and original 1800-era windows, it is safe to say you can clearly hear anything that is going on outside.

So we were in the bathroom getting ready to go out somewhere when we heard a car drive up. I became immediately annoyed because I didn't want visitors---we were trying to go someplace.
I looked out the bathroom window but couldn't see a car. We could hear it..the tires crunching on the ground. Then we could hear doors closing and people talking. We proceeded into the kitchen and out onto the doorstep but no one was there....no people...no car.

My son and I also heard it about 2 years ago. We were upstairs in the house cleaning out the large walk-in attic when we heard a car drive up. I was buried under boxes so I asked Scott to go to the window to see who had driven up. He claimed it was no one. I didn't believe him so I managed to crawl out and look for myself. Again, no one was there.


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Man in a Human Suit


A few years ago, while at my mother's house one morning, I heard my mother calling me from downstairs and when I went down to see what she wanted there was a very unusual man at the front door. 

I hesitate to call him that because he just didn't look right. When I think about how to describe him, I think I can sum it up by saying his hair, skin and clothes were sort of on sideways. 

I know it sounds ridiculous but there is not really another way to describe him. My mother was scared to death. 

It wasn't that he was unkempt exactly. It seemed almost like he put on a "human suit" that morning and zipped it up and he just wasn't inside of it very well. I realize this makes very little sense but I don't know how else to say it. 

Anyway, he looked at me immediately and said he ran out of gas and asked if I could I take him down to the gas station to get some. 

I peered past him and saw his car sitting on the shoulder of the road. Then I told him No, but he could wait in his car while I went and got the gas for him. 

He agreed and handed me 10 dollars and went off to wait.

I got a gas jug from the shed,told my mother to lock all the doors and drove and got the gas. When I got back, he poured it in the car, spilling at least half of it all over the road. He didn't seem all that dexterous. I was surprised he even knew where to put the gas. 

He told me to keep the change, and he left.

My mother and I had a good discussion about him. She said she never saw anyone look like that, and we both agreed he could possibly have been an alien or some other type of being. We both felt very uneasy and alarmed when we saw him. That feeling did not go away until he drove off.
To this day, we mention him sometimes to try to rationalize what happened. But we never come to any other conclusions.

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Investigation: Devil's Island, Nova Scotia


Our investigation team set out across a calm Atlantic Ocean on August 16, 2009 to investigate the local folklore and legends associated with Devil's Island. Our equipment was a digital camera and an electric motor mounted on the trusty canoe, which is capable of speeds up to 5 kms per hour! Hey, it gets the job done.

Background:
Devil's Island has quite a rich and interesting history. Originally, it was called Rous' Island after the original owner, Capt. John Rous. Later the name was changed to Wood Island, but after a fire destroyed all the trees, it was named Deville's (or Devall's) Island, which became anglicized to "Devil's Island". However, some will tell you the name "Devil" actually came about from an experience one of the island residents had while near the island in a boat. He claimed a halibut came out of the water and spoke to him, claiming to be the devil. I should interject here to say this was after a party so this account is not that reliable. The man was found drowned in the boat and to my knowledge was alone at the time, so how could anyone know there was a talking halibut if there were no witnesses? A good question, indeed.

In 1830, approximately 20 families lived on the island. Personally, I find this hard to believe as the island does not look large enough to hold that many people. This is only a reported number. I have no facts to substantiate it.

They had a school, general store and eventually 2 lighthouses. The island was inhabited until WWII, when most residents moved to the mainland. The last resident left in the late 1990's. Today the island is owned by Mr. Bill Mont. The second lighthouse was actually built in 1877 and at one time a rescue lifeboat station was in operation (until the 1950's) to save stranded vessels in the harbour. There are 3 known shipwrecks directly offshore.

There have been many reports over the years of unexplained phenomenon occurring on the island. In a house that is no longer standing there, there were mystery knocks, moving objects, voices, foul odors and apparitions. In the one house that still stands, there have been reports of lights appearing in the windows. There is no electricity on the island.

Today, there is one abandoned house and a lighthouse, and a smaller broken down shed.
(Update, April 2018. I have been informed no buildings are left standing now. The remaining were taken down by storms in recent years)

Location:
Devil's Island is located in the entrance to Halifax Harbour, approximately 2 kms. from Fisherman's Cove Boardwalk and beach. In our canoe with motor, it took about 45 -60 minutes to arrive. It is recommended you land on the south side of the island where there is a small sandy cove. If you are not a fan of squawking seagulls and other sea birds, you may not want to venture out there. There are so many, it is ridiculous and they NEVER stop crying.

What Happened:
We had a smooth trip to the island. The water was calm, the sky sunny. Upon approach, we saw the sandy cove into which we should go ashore, but my investigative partner, Shaun was originally told to go to the north side to land. However, this was not the wisest decision. Once on the north side, we had to opt for a rather rocky landing site.

The house and lighthouse are very visible, even from the water. There are no trees to obstruct the view and I must confess, the buildings did look creepy and foreboding. Long grass and flowery weeds mostly cover the island and there are many, many rocks of all sizes around the perimeter of the island. It actually seems quite peaceful there, if not for the incessant squawking of the birds. Asking them to put a lid on it does not help. Trust me--I tried.

We first walked to the lighthouse but it was locked and a sign warned us not to enter. We then made our way to the house. (Pictures below)The door to the house is long gone so there was nothing to stop us from entering. It is a total wreck inside (and out), with huge holes in the floors, walls, and ceilings, and garbage strewn about. Creepily, there are men's work clothes hanging beside the front door. It is a bit unexpected to see knowing no one has lived there for more than 50 years.

Inside the house you have to test out the floor before you step on it, considering the fact large sections of it are actually missing. We glanced around and took some pictures and made our way up the rickety stairs. There were four bedrooms, but also in a desperate state. We carefully went back down the stairs and just before proceeding to the cellar, I heard an unexplained noise. It seemed like some type of rustling in the room we were in. There were no birds present. However, I cannot attest to the source, so I cannot say with certainty that it was of a paranormal nature.

The cellar was equally creepy, except for the neatly stacked pile of firewood.

I took a few pictures with the digital cam throughout the house, hoping to capture something unexplained or otherworldly. I have examined them and do not see anything odd.

Result and Conclusion:
We don't know. We did not experience anything out of the ordinary while on the island. A previous investigation group captured an EVP voice on their equipment when they visited the abandoned house, however, at that time, my team did not have such equipment.
Aside from the legends and folklore, it was an interesting place to visit and we had a great time investigating it, even though we came away with no evidence.




















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The Doppelganger

The definition of doppelganger is a ghostly double of a living person that haunts it's living counterpart.

Not too long ago, I clearly experienced this.
I was in my bathroom and had my glasses off. looking in the mirror when suddenly the door opened, my stepson looked into the bathroom, right at me, and then without taking his hand off the doorknob, he stepped backwards back out into the hall, closing the door.

It seemed perfectly innocent, as if he was coming in to use the bathroom, discovered me there, and went back out. He never said a word.

I then turned to open the door to let him know he could in fact come use the bathroom if he needed to, but no one was in the hall, or adjacent bedrooms for that matter.

To top it all off, he was upstairs with his father the whole time, and my son was out walking the dog!!
Interesting!!
                                
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Investigation: Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills

Update: Since this investigation post was published, we have since learned from well-informed sources that the pictures contained in this post are from a nearby, although incorrectly identified, property. The gated road we refer to in the "directions" portion of this post, is indeed the correct one to take you to the remains of the Macdonald property. In light of this information, we feel our adventure is still post-worthy, so it will remain here in it's original form.

On July 27, 2009, we trekked to Caledonia Mills in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia to view the site of the former MacDonald farm where alleged poltergeist activity had taken place many years ago.

Besides a regular old Kodak digital camera and an old compass, we had absolutely no paranormal ghost busting equipment of any kind (not even a tape recorder!) and have no training or background in such investigations. We just have a profound interest in strange events. Actually, it is mostly MY interest and if I talk about a particular place or event long enough, my husband gives in and will eventually go have a look.

Background:
Beginning in 1900, Alexander and Janet Macdonald and their foster daughter, Mary Ellen were tormented by fires that constantly and mysteriously started up in their home and around their property. A very intriguing event, it was finally determined that the cause of the fires stemmed directly, although subconsciously, from Mary Ellen. Children and teenagers can unknowingly cause poltergeist activity, and although it sounds paranormal, it is actually scientifically based. After much turmoil and investigation, the family finally moved away. Mary Ellen spent much of her adult life in Ontario, where she lived to be quite elderly. The house no longer stands there, although there are reports of the remaining house foundation, barn foundation and a well.

However, people have reported sightings of ghosts and a curse attached to the property. Apparently, any item (even a rock or a stick) taken from there, will cause your house to burn down. This has been tested by regular every day people (who have put things such as shingles or bricks in sheds, etc) and the buildings always catch fire.

I had to make my husband swear that he would not grab something from the Fire Spook location "just to see what would happen". He has assured me that he did not pick up anything while we were there. (That is not a theory I want to test!) The legend also goes that cars have trouble starting there and there are many people in the area who will not even drive down that road at night.

A terrific book on the events that took place at the Macdonald farm so many years ago is The Fire Spook of Caledonia Mills by N. Carroll MacIntyre. I highly recommend it.

Location:
Caledonia Mills is located just outside of the town of Antigonish. With a simple road map it is easy to find. Online requests provided us with specifics of where to go and how to find the road/trail that the farm once stood on. There were some discrepancies from different sources (one person said there was a rusted fence post by the trail, another never mentioned any kind of marker to go by and yet another told us to look for a locked gate).

What Happened:
Our first stop was at the Antigonish Heritage Museum because we had been advised that they had information about the Fire Spook House. We were disappointed to learn that the only thing they had was a folder of photocopies of newspaper clippings regarding the fires from the time it happened. The lady who worked at the museum could not tell us exactly how to find the trail that would bring us to the site, as she had not been there for thirty years.

With our directions, we proceeded to the small community of Caledonia Mills. The paved road turned into a dirt road,( but it was smooth driving) surrounded by thick woods. No houses, no signs of life, only the odd vehicle passing by kicking up dust. We came upon two roads/trails and then had to try to figure out which one was the trail to the Spook Farm. One was gated, but after driving down it and tearing the muffler off the car (grrrrrrr), we quickly figured out it was a woods road that could not possibly be the former driveway we were seeking. (Strangely, as we passed this road on our way back to civilization, this gate was locked, yet had been unlocked when we went down it.)

The second road was only a few feet past the county line (into Guysborough County) but was our only other option. It had a white fence post beside it in the bushes, was really undriveable unless you had a Jeep or 4WD, which we do not, and I just felt that it was the correct place. We parked, hoped Mary Ellen would let our car start again when it was time and proceeded the 1 km hike into the site.

Did I mention four thousand horseflies went with us? If you go, please be aware of this.
The trail was swampy in places and call me crazy but the trail did have a bit of an eerie feeling to it. My husband could not detect this and I was not trying to be dramatic but it did feel creepy trekking in there. I was sure something was going to happen. Of course, our discussion on what to do if a bear or wasps came along did not help matters any. But I can normally discuss that with no problem because I do it every time I am in the woods and am quite used doing so. Today, nearing the Spook Farm location, it just felt different.

After what we deemed to be one kilometer, the trail ended and we found ourselves in a smallish space. I hesitate to call it a depression and there was nothing present to indicate a house foundation, although the area is very overgrown with wild flowers, bushes and trees, underneath which, I am sure, lies the building foundations. I have attached pictures.

We laid our trusty compass on the ground to see if it would do any paranormal spinning, but there was nothing. Of course, I realize the source (Mary Ellen) is no longer there and did not really expect the compass to do anything, but there have been ghost sightings there and then there is the curse to consider so I thought I would try.

We returned to the car (with all of the horseflies in tow, plus a few extra we picked up along the way), scooped our exhaust pipe up off the road and went back to Antigonish for lunch. We inquired amongst the locals who worked there if we had indeed been on the right trail. No one there was sure. One waitress lives near there but is too scared of the place to venture near it. Heading back towards Caledonia Mills again, we stopped at a convenience store and asked the lady who works there. She wasn't sure either, but wouldn't you know, an elderly local man walked through the door at that very moment and confirmed we had indeed been in the right spot.

Result and Conclusion:
We don't know. (Just so you know, most future investigations done by my team will almost always result in this verdict.)

We had fun driving there and looking for the correct location, which I am 99 % sure we found. Tonight I shall re-read the The Fire Spook at Caldeonia Mills to get more of a feel for the place now that I have been there and I will thank God above that I left the property in the exact same condition that I found it to ward off any curses!

A few questions remain: Who was around to lock the unlocked gate to the first road? Was the muffler being ripped off our car part of a curse? Or would it have fallen off on it's own? My husband assures me it was ready to go. Of course, he could just be saying that so I don't freak out! Scroll down this page for pics.

Here are specific directions if you dare to go:

 Leaving Halifax, take hwy 102 towards the airport to Truro.
At end of Hwy 102, turn right to get on the 104 towards New Glasgow. Drive past New Glasgow on the 104 to Antigonish. DO NOT go into the town of Antigonish but continue on the 104 until you are just a few kms past Antigonish. You will drive over a river and go past Mother Webb's Steak House on your right.

A short distance past that you will come to a gas station where you will turn right on Rte 316. Continue on the 316 and you will come to the community of St. Andrews.
Just past a white church on your left, there's a road on the left ( the Antigonish/Guysborough road). DO NOT make the mistake of taking the Pomquet River Road. These 2 roads are very close to each other.

A few kms down the Antigonish/Guysborough Road, you will go through the communities of Glenroy, Croft, and Caledonia Mills.

The paved road in through Caledonia Mills turns into a dirt road surrounded by thick woods. We came upon two roads/trails on the RIGHT. One was gated, and this is not the correct road. Keep going.

The second road was only a few feet past the county line also on the right hand side (into Guysborough County, marked by a green road sign).

The road has a WHITE FENCE POST (barely visible in the photo below) beside it and this will be the only way to tell you have the right road, so I hope it is still visible.


Park on the edge of the dirt road and hike in approx. 1 km.
This is the road:


You will come to a large overgrown area (the trail just kind of ends there) and this is the former site where the house once stood. (photo below)There are dead trees still standing but we could not find any solid evidence of the foundation.



View of surrounding property:




Whatever you do, DO NOT take anything, not even a small twig home with you! 




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