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True Paranormal
Story Sample
Extraordinary Day – Sally Thompson
(38) Somerset
I’d often heard
the word ‘synchronicity’, but never really knew what it
meant until one day last summer. I have never been a
believer in what I call weirdities, and never even
read horoscopes, but then something happened which made me
change my mind. After that I started reading Chat it’s
fate, and realised I had something to share with you
believers. The most extraordinary day of my life started as
soon as I woke up on 30th July 2003. The alarm
rang and after slapping it off, I reached across to get a
drink from the glass of water that stood on my bedside
cabinet, and it just spun out of my hand and dropped to the
floor. The weird thing was that the water didn’t hit the
floor, it splashed all over me, and the glass was
practically dry as it landed on the carpet. Very odd I
thought, and then I forgot about it, like you do.
The plumber was
coming early to fit our new bathroom suite, so I got ready
quickly, and didn’t really notice that the shower was more
difficult to control than usual, and zapped me in the face
an extra number of times. Then the hose came off the tap and
water squirted all over the place, soaking my hair, which I
hadn’t intended to wash. Most annoying.
The plumber
arrived, and I wasn’t that surprised somehow when everything
went wrong. He thought he had turned off the stopcock, but
when he disconnected the tap, water shot out, and, you
guessed it, I was soaked through yet again! I started to
joke about it, phoning my Mum and telling her, somebody’s
trying to tell me something!
By late afternoon
the new bathroom was finished, and I was so pleased I forgot
all about the many times I had been sprayed with water
unexpectedly that day. I decided there was still time for a
bit of retail therapy, so I grabbed my bag, shut the front
door behind me, and headed off to the shops. I knew it had
been raining pretty hard all day, but I was a bit shocked
went I stepped in what looked like a shallow puddle next to
my car door, and my foot dropped with a splat into quite
deep water. It splashed all over my legs and even made the
bottom of my skirt wet. Darn it! My leather shoes were all
soggy, but I glanced at my watch and thought that if I went
back in to change I wouldn’t get to the shops in time. At
that point I almost decided not to go, but I was in gear,
you know? Ready to shop till I dropped, and I pictured
myself going back indoors with nothing to do, didn’t like
that idea at all, and I so I got in the car. Sometimes we
just don’t listen do we?!
Anyway I drove
off. I had been concentrating so much on the new bathroom
all day that I really hadn’t realised just how bad the
weather had become. It was windy and chilly – British
summertime, right? We lived about 12 miles out of town, down
some rather less than major roads. Our lane actually had
quite a few potholes in it, and I had to dodge them
carefully, because some of them would be quite deep under
their covering of puddles. The short route to town took me
across a ford in the village, and although the water was
running quite quickly I wasn’t worried. I must have driven
across it five or six times a week for the past three years.
My car whooshed happily through the water. The trees along
both sides of the lanes were swaying merrily, top-heavy with
their summer leaves, and they did concern me a bit, but I
was soon out of the lanes and onto the proper roads, so I
carried on regardless. I soon reached town safely and set
about spending some of my hard-earned cash. I was laden with
shopping and on my way back to my car when the water-demon
struck again. I couldn’t believe it! This complete idiot
hurtled past me in his car, totally ignoring the fact that
he was passing through huge amounts of surface water, and
covered me all down one side with dirty rainwater! The air
was blue there for a while. This next part was a bit spooky
and I have to admit it freaked me out. As he flashed away
through the rain I saw his number plate. I couldn’t see it
that clearly, but it seemed to be DR 0VN. It was so close to
DROWN that it made me gasp. But, like I said, I didn’t
believe in any of this stuff. It must be the same sometimes
for people who see ghosts or something. They don’t want to
look stupid, so they talk themselves out of it, and that’s
what I did, and I laughed at myself and carried on. After
all, I might have got wet several times that day already,
but I hadn’t exactly come close to drowning had I?
I got back to the
car and thought to myself that I wouldn’t get wet anymore
that day. I just wanted to get home. I was tired and hungry
and well-satisfied with the bargains I’d found.
It had finally
stopped raining, so I decided to take the short-cut. It
would take me across the ford. If you’re wondering, it
did cross my mind. Ford – more water. But I refused,
absolutely refused to take it seriously. I mean really – how
stupid would I have to be to take another route home, just
because of some ‘coincidences’?
When I reached
the ford I was a bit surprised. Normally, once it stopped
raining, the fact that we were high up meant that the water
level soon dropped, but on this day there was a bit of a
raging torrent flowing. But, it was no worse that in past
times. I was stubborn. It’s funny, but on comparing my story
with other peoples’ I found that this is a common reaction
to something ‘otherworldly’. We dig our heels in and refuse
to lose our logic. I sat there in the car for a bit, and
told myself that I was being silly to even hesitate. The
water was no worse than before, and it would have taken me
ages to go round the other way. I put my foot down and edged
forwards, keeping the revs up as usual, so that the engine
wouldn’t stall if I got water up the exhaust pipe. I
breathed a sigh of relief as I realised that the water
wasn’t too deep. The car felt fine as we chugged across. But
suddenly the engine stopped. I turned the key, but the
engine just sputtered and wouldn’t catch. I thumped the
wheel in frustration. I tried the engine again, and again,
sure that a farmer would happen by in his tractor (funny how
tractors are always in front of you when you’re in a hurry,
but when you really need one, there are none to be found.)
That was when it
happened. I had a sudden vision in my mind’s eye of my car
getting hit by a wave of water and carried away. I could see
my terrified face looking out of the window as the car spun
down-river. It was like I suddenly woke up. All the signs
I’d had all day rippled through my mind like a pack of
playing cards, and I realised that they were warnings! Not
coincidences at all. Without another thought I threw open
the car door and plunged into the knee-high water. I shut
the door behind myself out of sheer habit and staggered
across to the other side. It was a bit slippery and the
water dragged at my legs but I made it. As I reached dry
ground I heard a terrible noise. It was water, and lots of
it, moving very fast. I turned around just in time to see a
surge come around the bend. It hit the sides of the river
and rebounded, crashing across the ford, at about shoulder
height. In front of my shocked eyes, my Ford Fiesta was
picked up like it weighed a few pounds and literally thrown
into the river. It turned and twisted, half-submerged, and
the only difference to my vision was that because of it and
the warnings I’d had, there was no terrified face peering
out of it. I had been saved by coincidences, and from
that day to this I have never ignored synchronicity.
Feature Sample
Sacred Smoke
Since the dawn of
time we’ve been fascinated by smoke. It symbolises our
constant striving to reach heaven and the beings that might
dwell there. Since man first turned his eyes skywards, smoke
has been used as a conduit for prayers, seen as the souls of
the dead rising into heaven, for energy shifting and even
communication.The most evocative image of smoke being used
to lift us was in a Viking funeral, where the departed were
placed on a ship or raft and pushed out into the fiord.
Flaming arrows were fired at it until the entire ship was
ablaze and the spirit of the Viking carried into up into
Valhalla by the smoke. Before that, primitive cultures
burned their dead, seeing in the rising smoke the material
manifestation of the soul’s journey.
In temples, churches, monasteries and pagan ritual sites, it
matters not which particular form of religion is followed,
smoke permeates it.
Smoke was used in Aboriginal rituals.
A woman giving birth crouched over a fire and then held her
baby in the smoke to seal his spirit into his mortal body.
At each big step in the child’s life he would be purified
and sealed by the smoke again. This was particularly evident
at the coming of age. Males were circumcised and then they
stood in the smoke to help heal the wound. The boys also
believed that if they placed soaked lily leaves or damp
grass on some heated stones, the steam rising from it would
not only purify them, as it passed through their bodies from
anus to mouth, but would also make them grow into strong
men.
Native Americans smoke in
communication; smoke signals. Damp leaves were burned on a
high place to create clouds of dense smoke, which could be
seen for miles. A blanket was dropped in sequence over the
fire, causing gaps in the up-pouring smoke and delivering a
message to a far off friend. Because the transmission was of
secret information, the number of ‘puffs’ would be devised
in advance by the transmitter and the person receiving.
Another Native American use is ‘smudging’. Smudging is done
to drive away bad energy and to help centre the people
taking part in the ceremonies. A bowl is filled with tobacco
(ah-say-ma), sweet grass, sage, and cedar and singed. The
smudge pot is fanned with a feather all around the room so
that the smoke reaches every corner and every person
present. They bathe in the smoke, starting with the heart
area first, the head area, the arms, and then downward
toward the legs.
This story tells of the origins of the Native American
peace-pipe.
Two young, handsome Lakota saw a woman walking toward them.
When she came closer, she stopped and looked at them. On her
left arm she carried what looked like a stick in a bundle of
sagebrush.
One of the men said, "She is more beautiful than anyone I’ve
ever seen. I want her for my wife."
The other man replied, "How dare you have such a thought?
She is wondrously beautiful and holy--far above ordinary
people."
The woman spoke to them. "What is it you wish?"
The first man laid his hands on her as if to claim her.
Instantly, from somewhere above, came a whirlwind. Then a
mist came that hid the man and the woman. When the mist
cleared, the other man saw the woman with the bundle on her
arm, but his friend was a pile of bones at her feet.
He stood silent in wonder. Then the woman spoke to him.
“Among your people is a good man whose name is Bull Walking
Upright. I come to see him. Go ahead and tell your people
that I’m coming. Ask them to move camp and pitch their tents
in a circle, with an opening facing north.”
When the woman reached the camp, she revealed the gift,
which was a small pipe made of red stone, with the carved
outline of a buffalo calf.
She gave the pipe to Bull Walking Upright, and taught him
prayers he should pray to the Strong One Above. "When you
pray to Him, you must use this pipe in the ceremony. When
you’re hungry, unwrap the pipe and lay it bare in the air
and the buffalo will come so you can easily hunt and kill
them."
The woman told him how the people should behave in order to
live peacefully together. She told him how they should
decorate themselves for ceremonies.
"The earth is your mother. For special ceremonies, decorate
yourselves as your mother does--in black and red, in brown
and white; also the colours of the buffalo.
Above all, remember this is a peace pipe. Smoke it before
all ceremonies and before making treaties. Use it when you
pray to the Strong One above and to Mother Earth and you
will be sure to receive the blessings that you ask."
Every little while Bull Walking Upright called his people
together, untied the bundle, and repeated the lessons he had
been taught. He used it until he was more than one hundred
years old.
Then he gave the pipe to Sunrise, a worthy man. In this way
the pipe was passed down from generation to generation. "As
long as the pipe is used," the woman had said, "Your people
will live and will be happy. If it is forgotten, the people
will perish."
http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore30.html
Stonees Weblodge
In
Trinidad the Caribs burn corn, and a feather is wafted over
it so that the smoke covers the male participants. Tobacco
smoke is puffed over the men by the Shaman to cleanse and
strengthen them. Smoke that enters body orifices takes in
with it the power of the spirit from the smoke.
In Christian religions smoke from the incense, with its
sweet-smelling perfume is seen as the symbol of the prayers,
rising up to God in his heaven.
Rev. 8:3-4 Another angel with a
golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a
great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all
the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the
saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
The Catholic Church has a very significant use of smoke. As
well as burning incense in ceremonies, they also use it for
smoke signals! During elections of a Pope the cardinals
conduct secret ballots until one person receives the
critical vote of two-thirds plus one. Each time a vote is
complete, the ballots are burned. To signify an unsuccessful
ballot, straw is mixed with the papers to produce black
smoke. When pure white smoke is seen pouring from the
Vatican, it indicates that a Pope has been elected.
Taoists believe
that holy smoke from joss sticks can ward off negative
energies and evil spirits, and will also attract the
blessings of the Gods. Another use of smoke by the monks is
in burning joss paper. One sort sends up perfumed smoke as a
sign of thanks to the Gods, and the second sort the smoke
washes away their sins.
There are a
myriad of different herbs used in smudging and incense
burning.
African Violet:
for protection and to promote spirituality within the home.
Basil: to
exorcise and protect against evil entities.
Clove: to prevent
the spread of gossip.
Dragon's Blood:
for protection when spell-casting and invoking.
Fumitory: to
exorcise demons.
Galangal: burned to break curses cast by sorcerers.
Mint: to increase
sexual desire, conjure beneficial spirits and attract money.
Rose: to increase
courage and induce prophetic dreams.
Sage: for
protection against all forms of evil.
Vervain: to
exorcise evil supernatural entities.
Why is smoke so
multi-denominational? It effortlessly crosses the paths of
every belief system, from Pagan Ritual to Christian Mass.
The essence of smoke is mystical and evocative and is a
fundamental human symbol. Since man’s first fascination with
fire, which remains at the heart of civilisation, smoke has
been seen as the embodiment of this powerful element.
Imagine early man sitting around life-giving fire, watching
the smoke rise and appearing to reach to heaven when man
could not.
There is a
propensity for using smoke for protection against malign
energies. Not surprising really, because after all, fire is
pure energy, and so the smoke would be seen as a
concentration of that benevolent force. And it’s easy to see
how its swirling vapour would be seen as something which
could envelop and destroy any evil that might be near. Smoke
is the quintessential centre of sacrifice; as prayer,
wafting up to God; a symbol of our love, being sent up to
the Gods; of the union of people, when used in a pipe, as a
means of signalling, and with its ethereal qualities as the
obvious manifestation of spirits or ghosts.
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