Chapter Seven

My Life on Earth

Occasionally the spirit speakers will tell about their lives when they were here on earth, and they seem to have come from many different times, backgrounds and experiences.Here first is June one of our spirit helpers, who early on, told us a little of her story, then over a year later told us some more. For the sake of clarity, most of her Cockney dialect has been edited.

June tells a little about her life on earth.

(FIRST OCCASION.)

First spirit (Alan): June is, shall we say, one of these very active, get things done quick little Cockney people; really down to earth, the sort of person that brought London through its problems during the war - never say die - and she’s saying now, “Poppycock, I died”.  But you understand what she means. When she talks to you, you may have difficulties understanding her, because she was born within the sound of Bow Bells and she never shifted very far from there.

Second spirit (June): I don’t know anything much about out in the country.  The only time we saw anything like that was if it was in the markets. We’d see the things you grew.  But do you know, I’ve never even seen a violet growing; but I know what it’s like now.

Cor, we showed Joyce some white lilies; thought we were giving her the best and she said that you grow them as weeds in New Zealand, and gee the likes of me couldn’t afford a white lily. I only saw white lilies in the markets... on some coffins! Coffins, humph, what a waste!

I’d love to have gone to the country. We went in a charabanc. We went to Blackpool, which was a long way; it wasn’t much when you got there. It’s all pebbles - did you know that?  The beach is not like I’ve seen here in New Zealand... when I say I’ve seen, you know being with Joyce I get round a bit... and it’s not like that.

Cor lummy, I wish I could have gone to New Zealand.  That would have been great.

I love old London Town, but to be free like you are... where I was I had to keep my place, and the gentry wouldn’t look at the likes of me.

I kept myself clean. I was honest, but gee I used to look at them sometimes yet most of them wouldn’t look at us. Some of them would, some of them fought for us in parliament. I’m talking of quite a long way back,  ‘cause I was old when I died, during the war.

Now it was the war... oh a lot of bombing, London was bombed.  I think a little bit happened in the First World War, but no it was World War Two. It was bad bombing... and they blew me up. Humph, had me cup of char too, and spilt it all!

It was my arm first. It blew off. And then the dust came and a heavy beam. It was the dust that got into me. The dust! Oh. I couldn’t breathe. But I died through loss of blood. My blood just drained away.  ...
So, it wasn’t that bad... and when I got here, I saw flowers, I saw flowers growing.

I was a bit lost for a while, but some of me mates were there, some wot  ‘ad gone before. Gee it was quite something you know, and we didn’t have to wear our thick heavy shoes. We could put on what we wanted, and I had a hat... you should see me ‘at. Oh it’s a beauty. When I wear it some of the people laugh at me a bit, but I’m happy with me ‘at. (Chuckles). A pity you can’t see me ‘at.

Well I must go now.

‘Bye.

(SECOND OCCASION)

Spirit: Good morning. It’s June.

I thought you might be interested in just a little bit about me, about my life. I’m no philosopher. I can only tell you things that are good or bad, but I thought you might like to know a little bit about the times I lived in.

Well I was born about... 18... oh it must have been about 1880. The thing you folks may find hard to understand is that as time goes by, though we remember all the knowledge we have gained, we do not remember the unnecessary, such as perhaps dates, or even possibly where we have lived. When you first come over here, well you remember everything and you wish you weren’t here, because you want to be with your friends. That doesn’t last long mind you, but I think it was about 1880 for me.

My father, now I’m not quite sure what he did, but he had a horse and cart. He might have been a rag and bone man, I really don’t know, but we had a stable for the horse and we lived above it.

Things weren’t too clean, although my mum, she did her best. But you had to pay tuppence to have a bath at the bathhouse, and you shared… I think you call it a lav, with all the people in the block and that was pretty awful!

But I was happy, played with all the other kids, had no brothers or sisters, but our play used to be in the hay, which was for the horse. We quite often got a clip on the ear for that, ‘cause that wasn’t very good. It did something to the hay, Dad said.

We had cats to play with. They were wild. We never had one that was really ours, and we used to walk quite a lot to watch the folks that had lots.

You’d see little girls in their pretty dresses and they always seemed to have... they called them ‘Nannies’, poker faced - oh, some of them were real cows. You’d think we had vermin if we came and wanted to speak to the pretty little girls.

Still, I grew up and I met a feller. He was doing all right. He was working in a shop, veggies, working for somebody else, but he was going to have a shop of his own. He’d saved quite a bit and we used to go out walking together. We wouldn’t spend anything, because we had an understanding.

But it didn’t come to anything, because he was one of the fellas that we lost; not in the Boer war, we lost a lot then, but in the 1914-18 war. He was happy to go to war. He was going to send me back money, or have it... he arranged something that the money would come, and we were going to save it towards our own shop - but he never came back. And I’d never met his folks, so that was that.

As you may have guessed, I used to have a lot to do with flowers. I used to carry them to the florist shops. I was never good enough to work in them, because I couldn’t talk right. “Yer ‘ad ter talk liedy-like”, and I just wasn’t good enough for that, so they used to have me doing the messages.

During the time of the slump, it was mighty hard and I’d take on anything I could. I’d work anywhere I could, and the fellas in the market were good. If any of the fruit were going off, they’d let us have it.

I had one room. I had that room most of my adult life. It was in a basement, it got a little bit of sun, I could see people’s feet on the pavement as they walked past and I had one or two pot plants.

As I got older my hands became a bit crippled. That made it harder but the owner of the building; he told me that I could keep my place if I would do some of the washing of the halls, so I did that. I was still doing it when I died. I don’t mean I died doing it; no I was having a cup of tea.

I had a pretty tea cosy; it was bright yellows and oranges, a friend of mine made it for me. I had lots of friends, ladies, well not ladies.... women like myself.

But do you know, that sounds like a real sad story. But I assure you it wasn’t because I had flowers; I had parks I could look in - some of them you could walk in.

I could go into churches. I used to like that… by myself on Mondays ‘cause the flowers were still fresh after a Sunday. And I could be there by myself and I liked that, and I learnt where some of the churches had their practice for choirs or organs, and I’d go and listen to that.

And apart from that, occasionally, we could save up and we went to the music halls and oh they’re a laugh! We used to laugh ‘till our stomachs ached. So we had good times, and the rare trip into the country - not very often though.

I managed to feed myself reasonably well. I never went what you call really hungry… and the material our clothes was made of was tough...  Mind you, you had the same thing summer and winter, so sometimes you were too hot and sometimes you were awful cold. One of the comforts of my life was me ‘ottie. Oh that was good! When your hands were aching, you could rest them on yer ‘ottie.

Well folks, I just told you a little bit about what it was like for me on earth. Whether I’d been there prior to that, I don’t know. If I have been I’ve forgotten, so this ‘carnation thing they talk about I’m not sure about.
But I know something… that over here there’s piles of work. You don’t really get a holiday, although it’s one big holiday in one way - but you get what you’ve worked for. I’ve got all the flowers and all the little kids and all the lovely things I want, round me.

They all keep me busy, and I’ve got an idea there’s even grander places and grander people, (and I don’t mean grand clothes either), I mean, just ‘wonders’! So the more good you do, the better it is.

Believe me folks, it’s a wonderful place to be; so don’t ever worry about coming over here. It’s great!

Well, I’d better go, so ‘bye for now folks.

‘Bye.


Jack another spirit helper, told us he had been press-ganged on to a sailing ship of war and that he decided that. as he had to be there. he was going to become the Admiral. He didn’t. He was blown up instead! Here is part of his story.

 Life on a sailing ship.

 Spirit: It’s me, it’s Jack. They said that I had to take my turn at speaking. I haven’t got much to tell you really.  You know that back when I was on earth I didn’t have two names, I was just Jack, and I ended up on a ship... I’ll tell you a bit about that.

Well I was just one of about half a dozen, ‘dogs bodies’ I’d guess you’d call us, because a cuff over the ear from everybody was our lot; and you know I didn’t even know the name of the ship.

For one thing, when they rowed us out to her (because she was out in the stream), we were stuck down in the bottom of the boat so we couldn’t look and see where we were going. [Note: Jack had earlier spoken of having been ‘press- ganged’] And whenever we made port we young ones weren’t allowed ashore, and if any ‘big wigs’ came on board they shut us below decks, so you didn’t have a hope. So I don’t know the name of the ship, but she had beautiful masts, straight and true. To look at them they were beautiful, but when you had to oil them, oh Gawd it was awful. ‘Cause as you put the oil on, it made it more slippery, and you know, they didn’t care if you fell to the deck; over you went; that was another one gone, wait ‘till the next port, pick up someone else who didn’t have anybody.

But to see those masts against the sky, quite often swaying back and forwards, port and starboard they called it, from side to side they swayed, and when the sails went up they looked white, (mind you they were just a dirty canvas really).  But against the clouds, in the bad weather when the clouds were grey the sails looked white; and if a small ray of sunshine hit them, it was beautiful!

Having to go out and set those sails which I was being taught to do is hard, because by the time they wanted me to try that, I’ d been at sea a year. I’d grown a bit and they felt that as I ate enough grub I should be able to do that. Can you imagine what it’s like; climbing up those rope ladders, bare footed and your feet cracked from the salt. It was not a pleasant experience ‘cause your hands were the same, and you knew that if you let go... well that was the end of you because a ship under full sail doesn’t stop to pick up anyone who might be alive that goes into the water - not when you are just the boy.

But even so, from up there, if you had the courage to look out at the sea, to see those great waves rolling on, you wondered where they went, and perhaps what was below them - what fish were there? And at night if you were allowed up on deck, which you were sometimes... to lie on your back and look at the stars, well it made you think of all sorts of things.

I’d never had what you’d call religious teachings, but it was when I used to do that, that I thought “Something has made this world”, and I began to think. I spoke to one or two others. One chap had a bible and he told me about Jesus, and from what little he told me, that man seemed to make sense. He told us to love one another, but Gawd I couldn’t love the mate. I even remember his name, after all this time… Mr.Stanhope!

I’ve learnt to pray for him, and to think good thoughts of him, but that man had a long way to go, at that time in his life. Mind you, I guess I wasn’t far behind him because I didn’t think good of him either, but at least I kept my fists to myself.

Our food, you couldn’t praise that. It was awful!

But some of those chaps that were there, some of them came from odd places; they weren’t all men from England. Mainly they were, but some of them had shipped aboard I think perhaps to escape some penalties in their own ports, but they had great tales to tell, and their faces showed what they were. It helped you sort of judge whether you wanted to keep company with that person, or perhaps move on and find another.

It was interesting too, learning the running of the ship. Mind you, if you became too nosey and wanted to learn something above your station, you were soon found a job to do more menial, more of your manual work such as scrubbing the decks. There was what you would call a ‘class system’. It made it tough for those of us who wanted to learn. But even so, if you really tried, you couldn’t help but pick up things.

Just by observation you learnt to watch the stars, you learnt to see where the sun was, only you kept it to yourself, because they’d say that you were getting above your station... clobber!

Well at this stage I guess that’s about all I can tell you, but if you ignore all the physical discomforts, you could draw into yourself the beauty of the world that you lived in, and that helped. You didn’t think of what had happened to you during the day, when you got to your sleeping quarters; you thought perhaps of the bird that was sailing just above the top of the mast, and you wondered where it came from and where it was going, and that enabled you to sleep peacefully, and wonder about what ruled over it all!

Well it’s been nice talking to you. Sorry I haven’t got that much to tell you, but it might have been of interest.

Cheerio for now, I guess I’ll come again some other day.

‘Bye.


Ling our main teacher has told us very little of his life, but the following talk does give an inkling, along with a lesson.

A lesson from spirit Ling’s earlier life.

Spirit (Ling):  Tonight I’m going to tell you a little bit about myself, partly because I hope it will teach you a lesson.

You know my nationality, and I was a man who was born you would say, with a silver spoon in his mouth. My family were well to do and were good people, good to those who worked for them, and I was educated. Many wonderful people came into my life, and apart from education, much reading and thinking, I enjoyed greatly being in my garden. We had gardeners of course, but I still used to like to do my bit, in the designing and development of a garden.

I married; my wife was charming. I was fortunate that she was also a talented and kindly lady, and my children we loved. And though my people (as I said), were wealthy, we were merchants but we employed people to look after our business; we did not have to indulge in commerce at all. And that was my life!

I led, I realise a very selfish, complacent life; I saw things when I left our compound that were not pleasant. I saw poverty, I saw cruelty, I saw illiteracy but it didn’t affect me, so I took no notice.

But now I have learnt my lesson and I realise how much I missed, so it gives me great pleasure, as well as no doubt in some manner improving my spiritual outlook, to help and teach as many people as I can.

So from this, I want you to realise that a person that has a life with a silver spoon in their mouth, is not progressing, unless they look outside of their world and do something for other people.

I am not saying that this is for you people. You know yourselves as to whether you are doing anything. That is not really my concern, it is yours, but I know myself that when initially I died, I was quite astonished to think that I had been really not a particularly pleasant person. I had been self indulgent and very complacent, happy with my life and my family. I am only grateful that I was a good family man and good to people around me, but I didn’t go outside and help others and that is what this world has got to learn to do. We must go outside ourselves, outside our gate, our road, possibly our country, and help others; and if you are incapacitated or getting on in years, remember your thoughts - they too can help.

I hope that this in some way will help others, if you can tell a story of a complacent person, that though others may have looked up to him for his wealth, he really was nothing.

But now my friends I am a much happier person and I work far harder than I ever did before. (Mirth)

May god bless you and help you on the path you travel.

Goodnight.


A most unusual story is now told by Tyke, a man brought because during his life on earth he had had his tongue cut out, and even though in his new life now, communication is by thought, he wanted to relive the experience of being able to talk again physically.

Tyke tells of his life.

 Spirit: Tyke. That is the first word that indirectly has come from me, for some hundreds of years. That was what I was known as, Tyke.
You see, they took my tongue out and so friends here, persuaded me to come and hear words that I have thought, because somehow, communication was so hard.

It is not a pretty story and as I understand it, it has gone now, but I’ll tell you some of the fun parts.

I was a fun man, a clown, starting in a small circus. We travelled during the summer in parts of Europe and England. England wasn’t quite united, so we also went into Wales and Scotland, but in winter we went south and some landowners would let us camp over the winter months, and then we were on the road again. But I used to play an instrument… it was like a little wooden flute and the people who had money heard it and liked it, so they would pay me more to go into their halls, and there I’d hear all sorts of things and see all sorts of things.

But there was unrest in our world, people wanting more, dissatisfied men. There were a lot of people who weren’t free, they were tied to the castle or manor house, and everywhere there was dissention, and I don’t know quite who thought of it, but it was found that I was useful as a means of communication.

Sometimes I didn’t even have to speak, it was the tunes I played. I felt uncomfortable because I was not sure what I was doing but I travelled widely, and also met some fine people. But I couldn’t let them know what I was doing and gradually it got more and more tense, as countries were warring and with monarchs not settled on their thrones.

As you may have guessed, at some time I must have slipped up. I couldn’t tell them what they wanted, not only couldn’t, because all I knew was that I had to play a certain tune, but I wouldn’t have at any rate because if someone is paying you, your loyalty should be to them. And so I lost my tongue, my ability therefore to speak, or to play my instrument.

At that period of time nobody wanted a farm labourer (that’s all I could have done), so I became a beggar. I would sit outside a church, one of the bigger ones, and if I got enough coins from the people coming out I could pay my way, but if I couldn’t, some of the Brothers would let me in to sleep.

I don’t remember how it happened, but I became employed in the scriptorium, for I had learnt my letters… I was never good enough for their beautiful books, but I could keep a record of what they had. And so my life passed. I was never taken into the Order but it was there, that perhaps I began to see a little, of what ruled the world. I thought about God.

Initially, as you no doubt realise, I was bitter, but it was man that I was bitter against, and I realise now that there is love, and understanding, and compassion for all of us… and it is there for the asking, but we too must make an effort… I just haven’t wanted to communicate.

I’ve listened, and eventually I was told about groups like yours, and I have listened to the thoughts of others being transmitted by one of you, and I’ve heard them - I heard the words that they thought.  So I thought that perhaps one day if I can do that, I might once more be able to relax in myself, and communicate.

Sitter: Thank you and you’re coming through loud and clear. Can you tell us who was on the throne of England at the time?

Spirit: I can’t remember but it was a man and a woman who were fighting for the throne of England.

Sitter: Oh thank you, we were just wondering at what period of history you lived in.

Spirit: She spent a lot of time in France. My friends, the names have gone from me, but I know there was a man and a woman, each fighting and trying to get more men, more of the barons to supply men, so that one could get to London town.

Sitter: Perhaps it could have been Eleanor of Aquitaine or someone like that.

Spirit: I don’t know about the Aquitaine but the Eleanor seems to mean something.

Sitter: And when you got to the spirit world friend, what were your thoughts after having left this world, and then discovering that there was another world?

Spirit: I’m ashamed to say that I spent a long time being bitter.  I would not accept what was there for me. I was too taken up with the physical world and the injustices to not only myself, but to others. But as time doesn’t mean much to us, I can only say as I feel, that recently I have been able to accept that there are wonderful, compassionate people both here and on earth. They are there, so that is what I must accept, and it brings warmth to my spirit, and I’m grateful.

Sitter: And we are pleased to have had a chance, to have a talk with you.

Spirit: All I can say my friends, is that no matter what injustices and adversities that may come to you or your country, there is a Great Light beyond all that, and it is there for everyone, if they are willing to accept it.

Sitter: Thank you very much for coming and speaking to us. And if ever you feel you want to come back we’d be very pleased to talk to you again.

Spirit: Thank you. It’s nice to know that someone, remembers Tyke. God’s blessings be on you all.

Goodnight.     


Another unusual communication came from a poacher called Paddy, who also has advice.

Respect.

Spirit: Paddy.

Now I go around a bit talking to various people and as I say, my name is Paddy, and I’m…well no doubt with a name like that I come from Ireland. And it’s no good you asking me who my parents were, because… I suppose they knew each other for a while but I’m one of those, you know.

Sitter: But it’s what you are that counts you know Paddy.

Spirit: Ha, I was a poacher. (Laughter)

But what I want to talk to you about is what I practised in my own life, although you mightn’t quite think it when I say I’m a poacher, but I respected things.

Now I respected my country see, but I can’t say that I respected those who had most of the land. They were foreign to our country. Do you understand what I’m getting at?  (Yes) And individuals… I could respect many of them, but what I couldn’t respect, was the fact that they had no respect for our land, or anything that grew thereon.

Now what I like people to know, is that word ‘respect’.

It starts with yourself; you’ve got to have respect for yourself, and getting right down to it for your physical body. I might have been a poacher but I was clean - clean physically and mentally. I had respect for my body and I had a respect for God. I used to go to church and the Fathers, God bless them, had troubles with me. They couldn’t quite understand my theory, but that’s neither here nor there. I loved God. If the good Fathers and I disagreed, well… I’ve met one or two of them since and we get on all right.

But I’ve said that I respected myself, and I respected those who I associated with. I mightn’t agree with them you understand, but we must all respect other people’s opinions.

And I respect the animals of the world. I might poach a rabbit or two, the odd pheasant, given a chance, but it was never for sport. We must respect the animals, and treat them, as we’d want to be treated. Now I don’t mean making fools of them, but treat them so that they would be happy. It’s no good shutting a rabbit up in a cage, for then he’s existing, not living, and we all want to live.

Respect the grass we walk on. You know yourself that if you don’t it dies, you’ve only got to look in places where it says, “Don’t walk on the grass”, and where people do. It’s dead. They’ve had no respect for it.

Respect the little kids. Now many of them give you cheek, but if you respect them you’ll find it gets returned to you. If they’re cheeky little ‘people’, for want of a better word, it’s probably because they don’t get respect in their own homes. Naturally there must be discipline, but with that there must also be respect.

Have respect for other people’s property. Most people where I came from didn’t own their own homes. They paid good rent, but the biggest percentage of those people respected those homes, because you are paying to borrow them, so you respected.

The same as you are borrowing your physical body. You respect it.

As I understand it, in your world today, mankind is getting so greedy that they’re not just happy with having an extra copper at the end of the week, or a good meal at the end of the day, they want the fancies better than other people, and because of this they are losing respect… respect for fellow man, respect for the chemicals of the world and the plants of the world, everything! The world has been used and overused, because they are not respecting it.

Now I sound as though I’m being very doleful. But if you respect all these things, the animals will respond, the humans will respond, your physical body (you must surely have learnt this), will respond to being looked after, and it will certainly play you up if you are careless. I learnt that the hard way, that you can’t lay out in the forest at night waiting for your traps to go off, and get yourself thoroughly wet, and do nothing about it when you get home.

And today in your society there is no excuse, because you’ve got things we never had, but at a price!

But try and pass on to people, that there are wonderful things in your world. You just need to go outside and slowly turn in a circle, letting your eyes go as far as the horizon, and you’ll see possibly hundreds if not millions of wonderful things, and even more if you tip your chin up and look above you! The various shapes in the clouds… you can spend hours watching those and it doesn’t cost you anything. The stars and the moon, I don’t suggest you look at the sun, but you can feel it, and see what it does to other things. And for all these things we must have respect!

So though I’m just Paddy the Poacher… I wasn’t going to tell you this, but I guess that you folks can accept it though you may think less of me for it… but it wasn’t my fault that I got hung! Well indirectly I suppose it was, ‘cause I stole someone’s pheasant - because no matter how glamorous the name of the poacher might be, it is stealing.

But what was so remarkable, and you might be interested in this, is that when I died… I gather I’d slept for a while; to overcome stress I was told… that’s a modern thing stress, but getting down to basics, all it meant was to overcome the fear that I’d had.

Once I woke up and became aware of those around me I saw one or two of my old buddies, people I’d got on with, and there was Mary my girl… she was the best part of my life was Mary. But not only were they there, but there were some wonderful people, who listened to my story and explained things to me, and you know, they didn’t think I was so bad, because they said that though I didn’t have respect perhaps for other people’s property, I did have respect for life in all its forms and that was good.

I work now. I go round here and there to various circles, and I talk about having respect. People who have sat in circles for a while and who are sincere, they accept it for what it’s worth, but it’s so sad that in some cases it goes in one ear and out the other - but that’s life isn’t it, that’s life!

So my friends, in your lives make the most of what you’ve got.

Respect what you’ve got and what you see, and respect all life; so that when you die, when you change your body is what you actually do, you leave your old one behind - when you do that you’ll find that it’s pretty wonderful over here, with lots of opportunities.

Well I guess that’s all I have to say tonight.

‘Bye for now but you never know, in a year or two I might be around again.

Goodnight.

The source of this material is Ken Hanson of Waiheke Island, New Zealand, whose Cockney wife is the Medium.
Ken passed to the Higher Life in August, 2009.

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