When I wrote Inner Journeys some of the first people to read it were my family – parents and brothers. I recall being a bit worried about what they would think and say but to my surprise their comments were to correct inaccuracies as they saw them in my narrative in the book!
In the book, I recount my first experience of well… something. I was perhaps 3-years old and was sleeping in my bedroom when I awoke for some reason. I saw a blue elf jump out of the mirror in the wardrobe and look at me. Of course, I screamed as a small child might. Not so said my Father. His recollection is that a blue elf jumped out of the mirror and shot me with a little gun. He states this because my parents heard the gunshot! and came running up the stairs to find out its source. I don’t recall being shot and it certainly did me no harm. But – well – what WAS that about?
In another incident I talk about seeing the ghost of a Cavalier writing in my bedroom. He got up and walked out of the bedroom wall. Yep – screamed (I was a screamer wasn’t I?) and woke up the house. In the book I talk about how we found out that their was a large estate at the time were our house was built and so, historically, its feasible. However, according to my Brother, I omitted to state that he saw it too. Indeed I did omit that but he says that he saw the Cavalier in our shared room just the way I described it and was rather annoyed I didn’t say so.
For sure, I did not mention the bible incident which my family all love to discuss when these things come up. My father had been given a very large leather bound family bible by a neighbor of his (in the street where he grew up). The bible contained a family tree of the family that had once owned it. I remember him bringing it home. It was exactly the sort of thing I’d be interested in. It was simply huge and probably worth something too I would bet. But, as soon as I touched that damn bible there was trouble. It made me physically sick to touch it and distinctly uncomfortable to be in the same room as it. Eventually my father placed it up in the loft and he forgot about it – as did I. Now, I do discuss the poltergeist like activity n the house, footsteps up the stair, doors opening, banging, sighing and all that scary stuff. It freaked me out so much I couldn’t sleep and in my college days would just go and drink lots of beer before bed when staying at my parents house.
Well this is the bit that is missing from the book according to my father – and he is indeed correct. My father was also experiencing things in the house – rather the same sort of phenomena as I but they always grew more problematic when I came home for a weekend or break. One day, he was up in the loft and came across the bible there. A thought came to him that perhaps it was something to do with this object so he took it, wrapped in in plastic, placed it in an airtight tin, wrapped it in more plastic and then buried it in a deep hole at the bottom of the garden. It wasn’t long before yours truly came home for a visit and immediately remarked that the house felt ‘so much better’. Indeed, the poltergeist stuff stopped. Could it actually have been that bible?
As a post script my parents sold that house 20-years ago. I often wonder if the new owners dug up that tin and bible……
If you want to read Inner Journeys – buy it at Amazon.com