High Spirits – The Afterlife and Ghosts in the Machine

“Intuition is the whisper of the soul.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Reality is next door, not “up there”

Next door is closer than you think. As I age, I am seeing more visible signs of family resemblance. This is a photo I took of my maternal grandmother when we visited her brother in Twin Lakes, Colorado. It was her favorite picture of herself.

My grandmother was an avid astrologer. A psychic trailblazer in her own right, she was a student of all things metaphysical and belonged to the Psychic Studies group in Kansas City. Other organizations she followed or was a member of include: The Rhine Research Center. Link. And Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. Link.

None of these resources were available on line to her during her lifetime.

She was so very thrilled that she had been able to attend The Monroe Institute for a session with Robert Monroe. (Circa 1978-80). I rummaged through her current stack of FATE magazines every time I visited her. She practiced energy work and let me try my own abilities on her. Prior to her death, she radiated a wonderful pink energy.

She helped me release my grief after she died and provided information [corroborated by others] for me to deliver at her funeral. We are indeed connected if I call on her but I have primary guides who are more involved in assisting me. As I sense of her energy, she is much freer now.

(Grandmother says, “You have spirit helpers assisting you, I have other tasks to work on. Trust them.” Thank you, Grandmother.)

I inherited a few books from her library and love seeing her handwriting and reading what she wrote in the margins of her astrology books. She was a fan of Ruth Montgomery, and I remember at least one Arthur Ford book, but can’t find it to reference for this post.

A quick web search turned up an excellent blog with this post featuring a review of “The Life Beyond Death”, Amazon affiliate link, by Arthur Ford and Jerome Ellison. Reviewer, blog author, Kiersten Thorne lists three takeaways from the material, including: “The afterlife will be much like this life.“

Arthur Ford, On “The Life Beyond Death”

Ford’s Obituary was announced in the New York Times. “Some of his associates recalled his saying “I have lived my entire life in suspicion,” referring to doubts about his good faith. Latterly, they added, he felt that the subject of spiritualism had become “respectable” in a way that had not been true in the time of pioneers such as Sir Oliver Lodge and A. Conan Doyle, the writer.” Link.

Recommend following the blog, authored by ‘professor paranormal’ [Kirsten Thorne] for all things afterlife, consciousness, paranormal, and fortean: “The Soul Bank is a place for everyone who has ever had a bizarre experience that seems to point to the survival of the soul. This is also a place to learn about the history and the current debates in the general field of “consciousness research”. I hope we can learn from and enlighten each other.”

Blog. A feature article about her work as part of a female paranormal investigation team is posted on the Los Angeles Times social page. Link.

Intuitive nudge

As I’ve mentioned before, the autumn energies have recently intensified, with an uptick in paranormal activity. (My nightlight has been super active.) The previously posted encounter with a deceased dentist and interactions with deceased loved ones related to Andy’s father’s transition have made it a busy month.

Along with that, I had a sense of being called to travel but couldn’t quite pull it in. One day, a certain memory [Weston Cafe, 2015] kept surfacing in my Facebook feed. Rather than losing it with a page refresh, that ‘memory’ continued to surface.

I noticed the relevance and booked an evening to attend the Ghost Tales of Weston. Once I made the connection, the ‘memory’ stopped showing up. Finally deciding to share it in the feed, it had disappeared. I had to search for quite awhile to retrieve it from the archives.

The previous dining location was no longer available, I learned the 2023 location, The Weston Café, was actually a return to the original host site.

Reconnecting with Verna gave me a chance to catch up on all the changes that had transpired for her, and the Weston ghosts, since we last saw each other, prior to COVID lockdown. I booked her for an interview.

Given that the Ghosts have always held top billing, it should come as no surprise there is a cameo in the interview. Or, at the very least, it is an interesting quirk.

Again, an EVP Anomaly

Curious: Garbled bits of word salad just happen to appear when the topic of discussion is The Saint George Hotel visitors seeing something unexplainable in their room overnight. EVP? Or not.

Making the most of her COVID 19 downtime, Verna Kowertz took the opportunity to update The Ghost Tales of Weston, adding new photos and stories. She also launched a new career as a romance author. The first in a series, titled Apricot Jam, will soon be followed by 3 additional books.

A very important element of her personal story. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, and told the survival rate was 1 in 8. Little did she know – ghosts were about to take center stage, starting with a haunted desk.

Backstory on the audio quirk in this interview. I debated about it then opted to remove it – edit it out – because it isn’t anything I can decipher. I omitted it in the original finished version of the interview.

Refusing to play second fiddle to a romance novel or my editorial oversight, the word salad interloper opted to grandstand and waited until the entire segment was completed to play a prank.

I saved the work in progress more than once – my failsafe. Project completed and ready for the final save – the screen went blank – computer shut down – battery died – and there went the audio. Even so, the previously saved audio file should have been retrievable.

Nope. It was corrupted. Dagnabbit!!! 

TAKE 2. I left the little ghostie in. Can’t prove it is an EVP.

Why is it odd? Nothing else in the audio matches this anomaly. Placement is key. The garbled bits of word salad coincidentally appear when the topic of discussion is The Saint George Hotel visitors seeing something unexplainable in their room overnight. A wine bottle spinning.

Apparently, the interloper had an opinion on that. Whatever that might be, I can’t decipher it. I’ve had my own interactions with the ghosts of Weston, including being given information in dreams. One instance is included in Verna’s Ghost tales book.

I am beginning to sense a theme with the EVPs. They happen when I am focused on ghosts or the afterlife. It might be that the phenom will continue to improve if I pay attention and remain focused on that topic. EVPs are a recent development, since January 2023, I will let it show me what might be possible and try NOT to remove the future anomalies.

It is what it is — this second *final* version of the audio file was not hijacked and corrupted. Thank you.

More information on Verna’s books is available at: Verna’s Website.

Dining with Weston Ghosts – Articles from 2018 –

Better than a billboard. One of the Weston ghosts provided a cameo and earned a mention on local news. “Hotel manager Bob Menninger said the photograph was taken from room 302, which is a popular room for many tourists hoping to see something paranormal for Halloween.” What appears to be a foggy mist can be seen in the  window. Some also see a face. Is it a ghost? Link.

The image in this Platte County Citizen article includes previous characters featured on the ghost tour. Link.

Ghost Tales full circle

Main Street Galleria building [previously listed for sale] has a new tenant and a new restaurant – time will tell what stories the current occupants will deliver. 2023 Ghost Tales returned to the original venue: Weston Cafe.

Prior to COVID, I was fortunate to be included in the Ghost Tales event for nine years. During that time, I met several dining guests who shared their own personal experiences with unusual paranormal phenomena or encounters with deceased loved ones.

Thank you to Verna for including a bit about me (and Andy) in the previous, and again in the updated installment of The Ghost Tales of Weston.

Many of the ghosts I have encountered seem to exist in their own dimension and are perfectly happy in that state.

Paranormal Misc. and Etc.

Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship presents an evening with Psychic Medium Vincent Genna. Nov. 2. Unveiling Subliminal Spiritual Messages Behind Hollywood Blockbusters Link. Main Website. Link.

Available at the Wolfner Library. Books on Parapsychology. Wolfner Talking Book and Braille Library, Missouri. Link.

Extreme Haunts – The House in Between – A decade-long paranormal investigation

True life haunted. This two part Documentary is well done and worth watching. “Bridging the paranormal, real science and the human experience this documentary shows a detailed look at what could be the most haunted house in America.”

Film by Steve Gonsalves and Kendall Whelpton. The House in Between.
The first segment was released in 2020. Followed up in 2022.
Full film – available on YouTube.
Follow on Facebook. Link.
Website: Link.

Next up. A Ouija story that scared a bunch of teenage girls off the board. We are not alone.