the_vulture (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_vulture) wrote2011-10-31 11:10 pm
the_vulture) wrote2011-10-31 11:10 pm
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Let me tell you a ghost story...
This is a true tale, a recounting of how my skepticism regarding things of a supernatural nature, most notably revolving around the existence of an afterlife, received a very solid kick to the groin.
It began last Samhain, when I attended a ceremony hosted by a number of fellow pagans. Earlier that year, I had received sad news that a friend and fellow pagan, Jo, had finally lost a long, hard fought battle with cancer. Though my only contact with her had been through various incarnations of an online pagan community over a number of years, for me, and many others of the group, she was an amazing presence who was not so much a living legend, but legendary in her living. Her life was a colourful and adventurous one, that included service overseas in the armed forces and a long stint as a truck driver. (And, oh, the tales she would tell of that! :D )
Her death had come much, much earlier in the year and, to be honest, I hadn't thought of her during the first Samhain ceremony I participated in with my circle on the evening preceding Samhain, nor during the Dumb Dinner I held on Samhain itself. But, whilst I was putting on the Friendship Medallion (that symbolized my ties to that former group) as I was getting ready for a ceremony with friends the following evening, she came strongly to mind. In retrospect, I think she saw the perfect opportunity to speak with her former fellowship through me. So, with her in mind, off to the ceremony I went. We did much of the usual, lighting a candle and saying a few words for each that have gone beyond.
Afterwards, though, we did something a little different. The priestess asked us to think about each of the people we were honoring and, with each, asking if there was anything they wanted to say, whilst moving a piece of parchment over a candle flame, its smoke and burns making marks to be interpreted by the viewer. The one I did for my grandmother was rather vague.
However, when I asked Jo if there was anything she wanted to say to me or the rest of her former friends, the result was a LOT of active movement over that flame, creating the following image:
Can you see the image of the loping wolf (possibly pregnant or very well fed)? That was the first thing that lept to my awareness. What is the significance of this image, you ask? It's very simply this:
On that online community, Jo's username was 'Wolf Laughing'.
That image prompted a smile from me and I had no difficulty, at that moment, believing she was with me in that circle, with a huge grin of her own. Of course, I suspect the Old Wolf sensed that my rather-strong-for-a-pagan skepticism might engage itself sometime after the ceremony, so she sent another message to ensure my receptivity. There was a large bag of stones (gathered at a beach to go around a stone circle outside the hostess's home) into which we had placed the remnants of that evening's energy. The priestess told us all that we could choose a stone to take home if we wanted to. I hadn't intended to do so and didn't move to take one. Neither did any of the others, at first. However, the priestess prompted me directly to take one (she didn't do this for the others). So, I reached into the bag, feeling around for one that felt 'right'. I chose one, pulled it out and held it up to a lamp to see. Outlined in the light was (like it could have been anything else) ... a paw print.
I can imagine her chuckling at that point.
She was with me the rest of the ceremony, seeming to enjoy it immensely. 'Twas a very profound event, especially given that it was the first paranormal experience for which I have any form of objective evidence. It was only some time after I returned home, however, that the full implication of that night's events struck me: by sending me not one, but two messages in material forms that were difficult for me to refute, Wolfie made it very clear that there IS an afterlife, and that she was happily roaming it.
Needless to say, that signaled the breakdown of a lot of barriers in my spiritual beliefs.
Of course, this is not the last I've heard from the Old Wolf, but, as I've partaken quite enthusiastically of the bottle of Sailor Jerry that I'm currently sharing with her and other spirits of the departed, I will have to leave that tale for another evening.
Blessed Samhain!
It began last Samhain, when I attended a ceremony hosted by a number of fellow pagans. Earlier that year, I had received sad news that a friend and fellow pagan, Jo, had finally lost a long, hard fought battle with cancer. Though my only contact with her had been through various incarnations of an online pagan community over a number of years, for me, and many others of the group, she was an amazing presence who was not so much a living legend, but legendary in her living. Her life was a colourful and adventurous one, that included service overseas in the armed forces and a long stint as a truck driver. (And, oh, the tales she would tell of that! :D )
Her death had come much, much earlier in the year and, to be honest, I hadn't thought of her during the first Samhain ceremony I participated in with my circle on the evening preceding Samhain, nor during the Dumb Dinner I held on Samhain itself. But, whilst I was putting on the Friendship Medallion (that symbolized my ties to that former group) as I was getting ready for a ceremony with friends the following evening, she came strongly to mind. In retrospect, I think she saw the perfect opportunity to speak with her former fellowship through me. So, with her in mind, off to the ceremony I went. We did much of the usual, lighting a candle and saying a few words for each that have gone beyond.
Afterwards, though, we did something a little different. The priestess asked us to think about each of the people we were honoring and, with each, asking if there was anything they wanted to say, whilst moving a piece of parchment over a candle flame, its smoke and burns making marks to be interpreted by the viewer. The one I did for my grandmother was rather vague.
However, when I asked Jo if there was anything she wanted to say to me or the rest of her former friends, the result was a LOT of active movement over that flame, creating the following image:
Can you see the image of the loping wolf (possibly pregnant or very well fed)? That was the first thing that lept to my awareness. What is the significance of this image, you ask? It's very simply this:
On that online community, Jo's username was 'Wolf Laughing'.
That image prompted a smile from me and I had no difficulty, at that moment, believing she was with me in that circle, with a huge grin of her own. Of course, I suspect the Old Wolf sensed that my rather-strong-for-a-pagan skepticism might engage itself sometime after the ceremony, so she sent another message to ensure my receptivity. There was a large bag of stones (gathered at a beach to go around a stone circle outside the hostess's home) into which we had placed the remnants of that evening's energy. The priestess told us all that we could choose a stone to take home if we wanted to. I hadn't intended to do so and didn't move to take one. Neither did any of the others, at first. However, the priestess prompted me directly to take one (she didn't do this for the others). So, I reached into the bag, feeling around for one that felt 'right'. I chose one, pulled it out and held it up to a lamp to see. Outlined in the light was (like it could have been anything else) ... a paw print.
I can imagine her chuckling at that point.
She was with me the rest of the ceremony, seeming to enjoy it immensely. 'Twas a very profound event, especially given that it was the first paranormal experience for which I have any form of objective evidence. It was only some time after I returned home, however, that the full implication of that night's events struck me: by sending me not one, but two messages in material forms that were difficult for me to refute, Wolfie made it very clear that there IS an afterlife, and that she was happily roaming it.
Needless to say, that signaled the breakdown of a lot of barriers in my spiritual beliefs.
Of course, this is not the last I've heard from the Old Wolf, but, as I've partaken quite enthusiastically of the bottle of Sailor Jerry that I'm currently sharing with her and other spirits of the departed, I will have to leave that tale for another evening.
Blessed Samhain!
Thank you!
I'm also reminded of the two poems she touched on in a recent poetry fishbowl, "Silent Laughter" and "Come Back."
There have been many times when departed friends or relatives have touched my life.
Re: Thank you!
As for the poems, yes, there's another tale for me to spin. :)
I can't say that I've been visited by much outside the realm of the ordinary, however. I'm certain that's contributed to me having a higher-than-normal-for-a-pagan level of skepticism. For much of my existence as a pagan, I didn't so much believe in power of magic, but rather believed in the power of belief, itself, to marshal the mind and body to perform extraordinary feats. 'Course, Wolfie decided she needed to mess with that a bit... :)
Re: Thank you!
More than a few people who did not believe in magic, having no experience with it, before meeting me ... have had their awareness rearrange after hanging out with me. For some rather cavalier definitions of "with" considering the number of times it has happened to cyberfriends.
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As for drawing the Isis card, my husband suddenly decided this year that he wanted to have a kid. I considered it five years ago, but he wasn't ready then. Now that I'm 35, I find myself dragging my feet. I'm just too set in my ways. I don't know. I just feel like I'm never going to be able to make up my mind on this one anymore. I'm not even sure I like kids in general, yet I get the feeling that if I have one of my own, I will love it like WHOA. I do know, however, that I like cats. Maybe I was meant to raise kitties and not kiddies? :)
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