Val Tobin's Blog

Seeing Ghosts

2012-01-29T14:46:00.000-08:00

About a week before Christmas, I woke up early one morning (around 6:00 AM) with the impression that I heard someone say my name. I then had a strong feeling that someone was in the room standing near my bed. I opened my eyes and looked over towards the door. There was a man standing there.

Fear struck first, as I thought in horror that someone had broken into our house. I immediately thought of my granddaughter, who sleeps in the room next to ours, but then remembered she had climbed into bed with us around 4:00 AM. I sat up, and then realized that now whoever was in the room would know that I was awake. I wondered if I should scream. It was at that point that I realized I could see the light fixture through his head.

He stood with head in hands, and I got a feeling of despair. I noted that he had curly hair, and that he appeared to be wearing a uniform. I thought perhaps he was a soldier, but then decided the uniform was perhaps dark blue and more like something a mechanic would wear. I squinted and blinked, and kept repeating to myself, "I'm not dreaming. I'm not dreaming." I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Slowly, he faded away. I looked over at my husband and granddaughter to see if either one of them had perhaps awakened to witness this apparition, but they were both fast asleep. I looked back to where the man had been standing, and he was there again. I tried to focus and see if I couldn't make him morph into the dream catcher hanging from the light fixture after all, proving that I was really just seeing shadows in the dark. It was incredible to me that I should be seeing this. I've never seen a ghost before, and found it difficult to believe that they could really appear so distinctly.

But there he stood, head in hands. Curly brown hair. Uniform. Light fixture showing faintly through his head. And there was that feeling of despair again.

I silently asked, "What do you want?"

In response, he slowly began to fade away, and I felt sorry that I would never know where he came from and what he was doing in my bedroom at the approach of dawn a few days before Yule.

In the days following, I had one friend ask if I'd noticed the increase in spirit activity the closer we got to Yule. I was surprised to hear this, as I thought that Beltane and Samhain were the traditional times for the veil between the worlds to thin and spirit activity to increase. My friend explained that there are more deaths around Christmas, and that would account for more spirits appearing at this time.

Whether she is correct or not I don't know, but I do know that my father died right after Christmas in 2005, and my friend also lost her father around Christmas. I have also never seen a spirit before, and, while I can't say for sure that that is what I saw, if there is another explanation for it, I can't think of it. Was it just a coincidence that I saw him at this time?

Shortly after that, another friend called to ask me if I had been doing more mediumship lately. She said that she had a couple of friends call her to say that they had been seeing more spirits lately, and that they were seeing spirits from far away. Of course I told her my story and we both thought it was interesting.

Our house is situated very close to a cemetery. I can see the headstones on the hills behind the house. It's a beautiful and not a morbid view. I love to walk there, because it is so peaceful and lovely. Perhaps this young man came from there. Perhaps he was from far away, as my friend suggested.

One person pointed out to me that I'd heard my name as I awoke, but I don't know if that was perhaps part of a dream, as I was pulling out of sleep as I heard my name, but it was when I was awake that I felt someone in the room and saw the young man. He resembled someone I knew years ago, but as far as I know, that person is still alive.

I wish I could have connected with him, and helped him. I did ask for help for him from the angels, and so hope that he found his way to where he is supposed to be. But I guess I will never know.

Premonitions for the Old Bank Bistro Paranormal Investigation

2011-05-25T15:36:00.000-07:00

I attended a paranormal investigation at the Old Bank Bistro in Fort Erie at the end of April. It was organized by the Paranormal Investigation Society of Toronto (yes, its acronym is PIST). The investigation itself was a lot of fun and a great experience. The food there was good, and I met a lot of nice people. But the real amazing stuff happened for me before I arrived at the Old Bank Bistro itself.

Anyone who watches the Rescue Mediums on television is familiar with their routine. Each of the two psychic ladies will try to get some psychic impressions about the place they will be investigating and create a list of the premonitions that they receive. They are not told anything about the location or the occupants or what spirits might be haunting it. So, their lists are based on nothing but pure psychic connection.

I thought that was a great idea, and suggested to my husband and paranormal partner in crime that we try that for ourselves. We had been provided a few details on the investigation beforehand, though it was not a lot of information. I hadn't read all the details on it. I only knew that we were going to investigate a restaurant that was purported to be haunted by the former owner, who owned the property when it was a bank.

We both came up with a list of items and read them out to each other. I had no idea how we'd verify any of it, but I thought that the things that I picked up were interesting. Among other things, when I focused on the former owner and how he died, I picked up that he had stomach cancer. I also saw a laneway or alleyway between the bank and the building next to it.

When we arrived at the Bistro, I was a little disappointed to see that there was no laneway between the buildings. I wondered again how we'd be able to verify any of the items we had on our lists. As it turns out, there was a historian there who had dug into the history of the building and of the former owner, and she was able to verify for me almost everything on my list.

Richard, the bank's owner and the Bistro's resident ghost, did indeed have stomach cancer when he died. His birth record says he died of an accidental gunshot wound, but the suspicion was that he shot himself when he could no longer endure the pain of his stomach cancer. When I was trying to tap into him to get a sense of how he died, I felt excruciating stomach pain and received the thought "stomach cancer."

I've learned in the time that I've been practicing with mediumship, that one of the things I seem to get most easily is bodily sensations of what the spirit to whom I'm connecting felt. Sometimes I will also get an accompanying thought or image that provides some more details, but usually the sensation of their pain says it all.

When I mentioned to the historian that I had also seen a laneway or alleyway between the bank and the building next to it, she laughed and said, "You're standing in it." The Bistro had incorporated the laneway into the restaurant, and when I looked more closely around the narrow room in which we were standing, I was able to see that we were indeed standing in what had been an alleyway between this building and the one next to it.

Other interesting "hits" on my list were the name Eliza/Liza. Richard's mother's name was Elizabeth, and a common nickname at the time was Eliza or Liza. I also had received an impression of Richard himself - that he considered himself a "gentleman" and always dressed very elegantly and very businesslike. He also had his hair slicked back and a prominent mustache. When the historian showed me a picture with Richard in it, I recognized the man I had seen in my impression.

An "impression" is not a clear image, which is why I refer to it as an impression. I know what the complete image looks like, but it's not as if I'm looking at a clear photo. Thoughts tend to also flow in with impressions to round out the information I'm getting.

There was more information that I got, most of which the historian was able to verify, some of which she was not able to verify. After all of that, though, everything else seemed anti-climactic, though I did enjoy the investigation. With all the living people milling around, though, it seemed to me that the ghosts made themselves pretty scarce.

Still, it was an enjoyable way to spend the evening and I'd love to go back to the Old Bank Bistro just to have lunch or dinner there again. They don't have much to offer off the menu if you are trying to eat vegan, which I do when I'm doing paranormal work, but the very nice waitress was able to accommodate me and place a special order for me. My fellow investigators also made the evening worth the price of admission - especially the historian.

Manifesting with Your Angels and Guides

2011-04-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

I may struggle with developing my clairvoyance--I admittedly suffer from "clairvoyance envy" and would prefer that form of psychic communication to dominate--but I seem to excel at manifesting. When my husband and I were traveling to Hawai'i for the second time, I had a real desire to spend the night in Los Angeles, rather than just pass through the airport there. I "put it out there," specifying that I would like to be able to spend the night in Los Angeles, without paying for it (including meals) and then just let it go.

Shortly after I made that request, I was contacted by our travel agency. They wanted to let us know that the itinerary had changed, and that we should contact them. I called them up and the person I spoke to told me that the flight out of Los Angeles had been changed, and we would have to spend the night in LA, both on the way there and on the way back. To compensate us for this, the airline would put us up in a hotel for the night, and provide food vouchers for our meals.

While most people would have been disappointed at having their flights pushed out, I was delighted. It was exactly what I wanted. However, the hotel that they sent us to on the way there was okay, but I would have preferred something nicer. Again, I put that request out there, expressing a real desire to have a nicer place to stay on the way back. It didn't seem likely, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask my guides and angels to arrange it.

When we arrived in Los Angeles on our return journey, we reported to the counter of the airline with which we were traveling to claim our vouchers for the hotel and meals. To my amazement and delight, they had lost our reservation at the original hotel, and said that they would put us in another hotel, which turned out to be much nicer than the one we had stayed at before.

Since I started working with my guides and angels, I find that things like this happen for me regularly. I ask for these things and somehow, whether by luck or coincidence or universal design, I receive them. When I do, I always thank my guides and angels for the assistance.

I know what you're thinking: so why haven't I won the lottery yet? I've been told that it doesn't work that way. I have asked for lottery winnings, though I guess it would help me to at least buy a ticket. I have never been much for playing the lottery. My husband buys the tickets. I encourage him to win it. But I'm not really sure that is what I truly desire, and I think that's where it breaks down.

If you are experimenting with manifesting, then I suggest that you pay close attention to the times when you succeed with it and the times when you don't. What I have noticed for myself, is that the times that I truly want something, I feel different about it than when I deep down don't really want it--I just think I might like to have it.

I find a different energy behind asking for something that I desire and that makes me happy, and something that I want that is a desire of my ego. Some would call the former feeling one of "being in alignment." When you are in alignment with what you desire, it slips into your life effortlessly and you are happy to have it. When what you want is not in alignment with your values and your higher self, then it's a struggle to get it, and you may even regret that you got it when you do get it.

Manifesting is not wanting something, buying it, and then waiting for the money to come in to pay off the credit card you just ran up. I feel that I must clarify that, as I've known people who "manifest" this way. The Secret was an interesting movie and brought the Law of Attraction to the forefront for many who had never heard of it before, but, for some people who misunderstood the concept, it had the potential to drag them into debt while they "manifested" with their credit cards and not their alignment to the universal energy of receptivity.

Your angels and guides are always ready and willing to help you manifest, so feel free to call on them. Let them know when you want something, and trust that if you are in alignment with it, then your guides will direct you to it, or direct it to you. All you need to do is ask with your heart, release it to the universe and act on any guidance you receive. Sometimes you will be directed to take some action to get what you want--don't worry, you'll know what you need to do when the time comes, and it probably won't involve using your credit card.

Headaches can be Spirits Trying to Communicate

2010-10-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

One of the things that I learned the hard way about spirit communication is that if you are not at the right vibration to connect with people in the spirit plane, then it can cause some physical discomfort. I was regularly getting headaches, and it always seemed to be when I was doing energy work on myself or exposing myself to haunted locations.

I finally connected the headaches to improper connection to spirits, when I woke up with a headache on the day that I was to give a workshop on psychic energy clearing and protection. I called on Archangel Michael to remove any spirit attachments, toxic cords that may have formed, or lower vibrating energies that may have attached to me, and the headache went away immediately, which told me that it was not a regular migraine.

Throughout the day, the headache would come back, and I'd ask Archangel Michael to clear me again. Finally, it occurred to me that perhaps I should see if it was someone trying to come through who was associated with one of the people coming to the workshop that night. While the workshop's intent was not to deal with actual spirit communication, it seemed to me that at least one spirit did not care about that and wanted to relay a message or at least make his or her presence known.

I sat down to meditate and told any spirits that were trying to connect that this was their chance to do so. I said that I didn't guarantee that I'd be able to receive their message, but I would try, and then they would have to accept that and stop putting this headache on me. During the meditation, I got the impression of a couple of people, but the strongest was a woman whose description I was able to get, along with some details about injuries she had sustained. After the meditation session, I no longer had any more headaches.

During the workshop, I asked the group if anyone recognized the woman. I described the details that I had been given, including the injuries that she had shown me. One of the women declared that it was her mother, and that the anniversary of her death had just passed in the last couple of days. She said that her mother likes to make her presence known, and this is not the first time that she has insisted on coming through. I was really happy that I could facilitate this communication, because the woman in the group was really happy to hear from her mother.

I was really happy that I now had a possible cause for my headaches, and in future could deal with any that were caused by spirits trying to communicate. I'm still working on my mediumship skills, as I seem to have spirits around that want to come through and connect with me, but I still struggle with allowing myself to let them through.

When I do an oracle card reading session these days, I always at the end ask the person if they would be interested in allowing me to try some mediumship with them, off the clock, of course. This allows me to practice my mediumship skills and also allows some people to receive a message or two from a departed loved one for free. So, it's a win-win proposition.

When You Can't Hear Your Guides

2010-09-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

When you first begin to ask questions and look for guidance from your guides and angels, it's difficult to tell when they are answering. Yes, there are times when you might recognize something as a message or you might get a vision so tangible as to be unmistakable, but a lot of the time, you question what you get.

That's not a bad thing and it shouldn't make you feel guilty. It's okay to ask your guides for validation of any response that was unclear or of which you are unsure. When I was looking for a program of study that included the paranormal, I asked my guides to verify that the program I had found through a list mate on a user group was the one that I should be taking. A number of coincidences had led me to the program at the American Institute of Holistic Theology, but I wasn't sure if I was being guided to take it, or if I was simply interpreting that I should. So I asked my guides to verify that, and to please "hit me over the head with it, because subtlety doesn't work for me."

A few days after I made that request, I was at an event as a volunteer giving Reiki to teachers who were attending a conference at Hockley Valley Resort. At dinner, I ended up sitting next to another practitioner who happened to be very psychic. We chatted as we ate, and suddenly she leaned over to me and said, "Your guides are here and they want me to give you a message."

I nodded for her to continue, and she said, "They say you should go ahead and take the course you are looking at." I asked her which course that would be, as I'd been looking at a few of them. She said, "The one with the channelling." She paused a moment, then said, "...and I'm getting this image of them knocking on your head." She looked puzzled, but I just smiled and replied, "I know what that means."

Of course I signed up for the program. They did hit me over the head with it, after all. So the next time you would like input from your guides, and aren't sure of their response, feel free to ask for validation. They really don't mind and will help you all they can--that's what makes them your guides.

Glimpsing My Spirit Guide for the First Time

2010-09-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

I want to start off with letting everyone know that I have seen one of my guides. It took weeks—months, actually, but I finally caught a glimpse of her. If I can do it so can you, and it does pay to begin to open up to this.

When I started experimenting with connecting with my guides (about eight years ago), I didn’t know what I was doing and was sure that I was blocked or that people who did claim to connect to their guides were possibly schizophrenic or delusional or seeking attention (so, in other words, I was almost as big a skeptic as James Randie—not that I’d ever heard of him at the time either).

So, why did I bother? Well, if you think about it, if there are guides out there in the ether who are there to help you through life, then wouldn’t it make sense to connect to them? Also, I don’t believe that some people are more special or holy than others, and if there is a God, and he (I’m using he simply to avoid using the unwieldy he/she, though I believe “God” is not a dude) saw fit to let us have guides, then I don’t think he’d play favorites with whom among us should be able to have contact with their own guides.

So, I thought that I’d either prove that these beings exist or I’d prove that they don’t. I figured it was a hobby that wouldn’t hurt me, unless you take into account the huge disappointment and psychological angst that would go along with realizing that we are indeed alone were I to disprove the existence of spirit guides.

Anyway, I started my quest by beginning to meditate. I downloaded a meditation from Shirley Maclaine’s website that she was sharing with the members of her site. My only criteria for the meditation track at the time was that I get a meditation that was free, short and to which I enjoyed listening. This one from Shirley’s site fit the bill.

I listened to that 25-minute track every day for months, each time setting the intent that I get an image of my guide or guides. Just to be clear, I have difficulty getting images. At the time, I was unable to visualize anything at all. Some people have told me that if they are asked to visualize an apple, for example, then they are able to “see” it in their mind’s eye with no trouble. I can’t do that. I am able to, at most, get an impression of an apple, but there is no image of it that pops into my head.

One day, as I listened to the meditation, I suddenly got a very clear image of an Egyptian woman. This was not just an impression--it was a clear image. Also, there was nothing in the meditation that talks about Egypt, I had not been reading or accessing information about Egypt before meditating, and there was nothing I had been doing that would have put this particular image into my head. But there it was.

I was pretty excited about that, and wished that I could somehow verify that this was indeed one of my spirit guides.

A few weeks later, I was at the psychic fair here in Newmarket, and decided to get a reading from one of the psychics. I approached a very kind-looking woman named Geraldine and signed up for a 30-minute reading. The reading went well, and at the end of it, as I was getting up to leave, she suddenly grabbed my arm and said, “Wait. I have to introduce you to your spirit guide.” I sat down again and waited. Geraldine said, “She is an Egyptian woman, and her name is Mara.”

She laughed when she saw the look on my face and said, “You’ve seen her, haven’t you?” I replied that I had. She then went on to say that Mara and I had been priestesses of Ra in a past life and that she was my spirit guide in this life. I was thrilled Geraldine had validated my vision and that I had a name to put to the face that I had seen. I had not told Geraldine anything about my quest to meet my guides. It hadn’t come up at all during the reading, as I was more concerned with mundane things such as to do with family and career.

There are better and faster ways of connecting with your guides, but if you are just starting out, then it’s not a bad way to go. Take 30 minutes and do a meditation, setting the intent to receive an image or some message from your spirit guides. At the time, I was going for just visual or clairvoyant messages, as I didn’t realize that there are more ways to receive messages from one’s guides than through seeing.

For more information on the different ways that you can receive messages from your guides, read my Suite101 article “Psychic Communication: Receiving Messages from Guides and Angels,” which was written long after those initial attempts at spirit communication, when I’d had more experience and even formal training on connecting with my guides.

Finding my Guides

2010-09-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

I was always interested in the paranormal, but had never, as far as I know, had any supernatural encounters. I loved to read and hear about people who communicated with their spirit guides, departed loved ones and celestial beings. But it all seemed beyond my reach.

I've always believed, though, that you can do anything you set your mind to doing, so I decided that, however long it takes, whatever effort is required, I would learn how to open up psychically and learn how to communicate with the spirit world.

I had a number of reasons for wanting to do this. First of all, I wanted to verify the existence of something beyond the immediate physical world. Second, if there are such beings available to help us get through this life, then I wanted to consciously avail myself of their help. Third, if it worked for me, then I could help others to do the same thing.

I think everyone should have direct access to his or her own guides. That's what they're there for. There should be no need for anyone to pay to find out what his/her guides want him/her to know.

I've decided to start writing about the experiences that I've had since I made that decision about eight years ago. I never realized how difficult and intense the journey would be, but if I had, I still would have started down that path.

Receiving help from the Divine is never a waste of time or effort--as a matter-of-fact, "effort" is misleading in something like this. What is primarily required is "allowing," which sometimes is much more difficult than exerting effort.