"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Friday, October 31, 2014

GHOSTS

Here is an early Ouija board. These were actually played with long ago when they still played parlor games. The rest of the post is from an earlier one, apropos for this spooky time of year. And, to all my friends and family out there, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


"Is it all that we see or seem, but a dream within a dream".  Edgar Allan Poe

First of all, let me preface this story with a disclaimer. I have never seen a ghost as far as I know, so I can not say with any certainty that they exist.



Over many, many years, I had recurrent dreams of a grand old delapidated house. It was three floors with lots of rooms and staircases. The wallpapers were faded and the furnishings were expensive yet from another century. The living room/entry had a 'ghost' that was unseen - a masculine voice and presence that hovered near the ceiling. Up the grand staircase at the landing, was an angry old ghost lady in a long dress. Down the hallways were various bedrooms with hidden doorways and staircases, each of which were inhabited by different visible ghosts. These 'house dreams' are supposedly common - Carl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, had a theory about them. You can google it, but I don't have the room nor time here to explain Jung, nevermind that he has been disproven and/or not referred to very much in modern medicine - whatever.



Now, for the rest of the ghost story. Prince Michael of Greece believes in ghosts and has written a book about them titled THE WOMEN FROM BEYOND. Though he writes about ghosts that he and his family have encountered throughout Europe's great castles, he also writes about other encounters as well. He said that not all ghostly phenomena are confined to the great and famous.


In the 1960's, an Englishwoman dreamed each night the same dream. In her dream, she saw a large, distinctive country mansion in an unmistakable landscape, though she knew of neither the house nor the landscape. She often wondered why both returned to her regularly in her dreams.


One day, while traveling through Scotland with her husband, they rounded a corner and she saw plainly in front of her the house she had dreamed of for so long. Determined to solve the enigma, she stopped and rang the doorbell.


A man, whom she decided must have been the caretaker, answered the door with a gasp and stood staring at her with open horror. She asked him who lived in the house. The man replied that it had been empty for many years, the owners not caring to share it with the white lady. "So, is the house haunted," she asked. "You should know," he replied. "You are the ghost."



EPILOGUE


One night, several years ago, I dreamt of coming upon that old house I had dreamed about for so many years and it was gone. A bulldozer was moving the freshly dug earth across the lot; nothing was left of the house. I called out to the equipment operator. But what about the ghosts, I asked anxiously. "They're gone," was his reply.


I never dreamed about the house or the ghosts within again.
And one more thing, one of my favorite movies and a great one for this time of year, is THE LADY IN WHITE. I just love so many things about this movie.

One more thing.  I'll be alone tonight in my country house. The winds are howling and there will be a first hard freeze tonight.  I guess I'll have to turn on the heater.  Now, that is scary.




19 comments:

Mrsupole said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Baino said...

Great story! I haven't seen one either but love reading about them. I've never had a house dream, perhaps I'll never find my 'dream' house!

Anonymous said...

Hi Donna, this story I can really relate to. It makes me wonder if maybe I'm not haunting something, while I sleep. Seeing a building or place and thinking you've been there. But 'tis not a deja-vu thing. Something quite different, as you describe. Will we ever really know? I've not had a vision in a while, but I can still get creeped out by them. Maybe it's just my mind is always racing...too bad that house is gone. It could've been explored further, perhaps?

CherryE said...

I really liked this "spooky" story! Gave me goose bumps!!!

Candie said...

Hi Donna,this was just great!Well written too.And yeah this is something I have been thinking about too,about the power of the mind.I do believe we can connect through dreams to a place or a person.It's very powerful,there are things we still can't explain for sure.Anyway,great post.
:)

CocoDivaDog said...

Cool! I too have many house dreams, and I know what Jung said of such dreams.
I am having such a blast reading these ghost posts. Thank you for your amazing tale.

Leah said...

I love your ghost story (within a ghost story)--wonderful post!

I have recurring house dreams too, very disturbing.

Ronda Laveen said...

Tricksy, you are. Great story. I love old houses haunted and not

donna baker said...

I don't know whether I was 'haunting' the house or vice versa, but I was upset to see them go and that the place had been bulldozed. I do believe we are visited in dreams by ghosts, guardian angels, spirits? I had a visit by my husband's guardian angel or a ghost telling me he was sick. He was sick we found out with a stage 4 cancer. My mother came back to visit me after she died at age 40 to tell me she was happy. I was told in a dream that my oldest daughter had been in a wreck and was sent to a hospital. She was and had a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma for sometime. And, the most recent visit was about a year ago, a girl in a dream told me to follow the crystal line, which I don't have a clue what she meant. I just hope some of my dreams don't come true!

Karena said...

Donna, this is so poignant! I love your site and am sorry to not have visited sooner!

Come and join my giveaway from Metis Linens!

Xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena

A Wild Thing said...

Boy, I'm all ears for a good ghost story...or aliens & ufos and bigfoot and swamp creatures and nessie...shall I go on...heehee...frankly, I just think it's my over active imagination, however, I'm still wondering what unknown force made me go outside to the chicken house one day to check on the baby chicks, then I saw it, a huge snapping turtle digging it's way under the fence...EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE...so now I believe in garden fairies!

BTW, I got there just in time as his 4th foot was clearing the fence into the pen...he was mighty tasty!

See ya!

s

okelfgirl@yahoo.com said...

Awesome picture of the "haunted" house! It fascinates me that they are fixing it up. I love McAlester's old houses. Your posts are always so interesting :)

Kirsten Steen said...

Great story! Will have to look for that book. Always love a good ghost story (but the REAL ones). Like the commenters idea that maybe we haunt places in our dreams. I know I go back to certain places that I know I've dreamed of before but never actually been to. Odd feeling when you wake up. Recently, myself and 2 other (women) family members dreamed of my grandmother, that she was trying to tell us something but for some reason or another, none of us could hear or understand her. We never found out what it was she was trying to tell us but I'm still wondering.
Thanks for sharing your dreamy ghost story!
Kirsten

jerilanders said...

What a fascinating story! I often dream of an old house with a twisting stairway which leads into an attic that I never quite reach because it is too frightening to enter. I've had the dream often. I hope I never reach that attic. I really enjoy reading of ghostly encounters and dreams. A book I've had for years is entitled "Ghosts of OLDE Virginia", purchased because I met the author at a show, and because it if filled with tales of supposedly haunted houses and the ghostly spectres that frequent them. You really must pull out your Edgar Allen Poe books tonight, or listen to a free audio version on Librivox, seeing as you will be ALL ALONE IN THE DARK AND COLD!

La Table De Nana said...

Your dreams are ..I wish my mom would come to me in a dream and tell me how much she loves me..still:)
Do they feel so real?
They must as things have come true.I hope your husband and daughter are well now ..I do.
I remember the ouija board:) We had fun with that when I was in my teens.

donna baker said...

Not cold Jeri, I turned on the heater. We heat with propane and it tripled in price last winter. I'm sure many were cold. I just hope this winter isn't as cold. Isn't it weird how many people dream house dreams?

donna baker said...

Yes, some seem very real. In technicolor. It's been 13 years since my husband's cancer and he's still going. My daughter is well; she works hard and is on her own. TBI is a terrible thing to happen; forever changes you. I wish your Mom could tell you too, but I bet she hasn't because she is next to you all the time, loving you.

La Table De Nana said...

I am glad your husband is well again..And your daughter..is she the mom of your angels?

I would have loved my mom to know my ..our daughters..and our grandchildren..

donna baker said...

No. She has never married nor had children. Forever changed since she was 19. I know we motherless children must all long for the same things.