My Experience With The Paranormal 👻

First things first I am by no means an expert in the paranormal nor do I understand everything that comes with it however that being said I have had my fair share of encounters and whether you believe in ghosts or not I hope this is a post you can enjoy.

When people hear that I'm interested in witchcraft and spell casting they think I've gone mad but having grown up thinking 'I must have been a witch in my past life' I realised I was one in this life too and came out 'of the broom closet' as they say. It can be very confusing to some but witches and witchcraft are a whole different kettle of fish so I will dedicate a post to that another day but for now it's all about my own experiences with the paranormal realm and although I am a 'witch' I am not a psychic, nor do I claim to be.

As a child I was terrified of the paranormal, I hated talking about ghosts, I couldn't watch horror movies and when the theme song for Most Haunted came on I used to have to cover my ears, but for some strange reason I'd always feel safe and at peace in graveyards, even walking around them at night wouldn't faze me at all. I live beside a graveyard and can see it from my bedroom window which I know would freak a lot of people out but not for me, I love it. 

I feel like the best way to write this post is to start at the beginning and that was about eight/nine years ago with my best friend Annmarie. Like every neighbourhood we had our own haunted house down the street, one of those houses that was never verified as being haunted but all the kids were terrified of it, including us. One day whilst walking home I decided to take a visit to the inside (there's always one) and to Annmarie's horror she realised she was coming with me. The minute we went in it just didn't feel right, it felt dark and we knew we shouldn't have been there, when we found blood in the bath we freaked out and left straight away, but it just didn't feel right.

 That evening I got a phone call off Annmarie asking if she could stay in mine because she was still on edge, I agreed mainly to keep her happy but secretly I was delighted because I couldn't shake that dark feeling off. We both decided never to speak of it again and fell fast asleep. 

 I'll never forget what happened next, 3am struck and I woke up gasping and as I did Annmarie just sat up in tears saying 'did you feel that?' I knew straight away what she had felt because I had felt it too, it was as if someone had picked up a bunch of pebbles/stones and thrown them at us, hard enough to wake up both up at the exact same time. Both reduced to tears it wasn't long before we were crying to my mother at the kitchen table admitting everything and promised to never go back into that house again. To this day I still get shivers passing that house, it was very weird.

As I started getting older I became very aware of energy and spirits being around especially in the month of October, never knowing it was when the veil between both realms were the thinnest. I can remember one night specifically walking up 'the backs' with all my friends and stopping in my path because I saw this dark figure walking past, I didn't even mention it because I thought my eyes were deceiving me but it wasn't the first time I saw something like that. When you cast spells you're welcoming spirits so since last year I've witnessed a lot more than I did before. At least three/four times a week I would wake up at 3am, the witching hour as it's known and there are nights I get the feeling someone is with me. 

There was one encounter that really stands out to me, I remember it so well because it was the one time I felt truly scared and even cancelled a lock down I had in Loftus Hall the following day. I woke up and I remember checking my phone,it was 3.01am 'not again' I thought and rolled over to go back asleep but I became very aware something was there and when I tried to get up I couldn't move it was as if something was holding me down. I started crying and all I knew to do was create a light of protection and pray! I prayed and prayed and prayed until eventually I could sit up, turn on all the lights and try come to terms with what had just happened, I was truly terrified and decided I was getting out of all this, long story short...I didn't. 

 Weird things always happen like my dream catcher swinging on it's own and most recently my keys showing up. I can't blame this on the paranormal but it was very weird. I had a wedding two weeks ago and after finishing work on the Thursday I took my car keys, purse and phone out of my work bag and put my bag in the corner not to be touched until I return to work on Monday. Friday was the day of the wedding and when we arrived at the venue I noticed my mother had taken my car keys with her to Kilkenny. WHY!! WHY!! WHY!! she brought them I just don't know but I remember seeing them in Kilkenny and when I woke up Saturday morning and wanted to drive I asked for my keys and when she looked in her bag they were gone. Hungover and in desperate need of a bottle of Lucozade I kicked up blue murder and after ringing the hotel they hadn't seen them. I went all weekend without my keys and when I went to get my work bag from the exact place I'd left it Monday morning I opened my bag and the keys were in the very bottom of the bag that had not been touched since Thursday evening... freaky I know!!! 

 I think if I read that story somewhere else I'd be like 'pfft idiot put the keys in her bag' but I know for a FACT I didn't and I saw them in Kilkenny....It's just WEIRD!!!!

Finally onto the stuff people actually want to know, my experience of Ghosts in Loftus Hall. The first thing you need to know about Loftus Hall is everyone has their own personal experience with the Hall and with thousands of spirits having passed through the there it's plagued with paranormal energy, energy some people pick up more so than others.

 My own experience with Loftus is certainly a colourful one and started almost a year ago. Before I ever went to Loftus Hall I always felt a weird connection to it, I always wanted to go and last Halloween I went for my first time which you can read about here from that time I felt this connection to the ghost said to haunt the house, Lady Anne Tottenham. I can't describe it I've just always felt weirdly close to her, when we went into the Tapestry room (which was where she was kept) I became overwhelming sad, as in tears flowing and this has happened every time I've gone to the house so far.

 When it comes to the night time lockdowns  Anne's presence has always been felt on the tours and I can't get her out of my head at all. Again in the Tapestry room, a freezing cold room I started burning up and through my gloves my friend could feel the heat coming through me. I also felt a hand on the back of my back and I'm fully convinced it was Anne. 

To go a little deeper every time I go to a house tour I'm picked to play Anne (by a different guide every time) my middle name is Ann and I'm known to be bad at playing cards (exactly like Anne) FINALLY,  if you search Lady Anne Tottenham on Google images look who's selfie pops up...

And so there you have it my experience with the Paranormal, there's so much more that has happened in Loftus like seeing shadows in a pitch black room and being pushed by an invisible force but that's something you can just expect going to Ireland's most haunted house. 

Like I said you don't have to believe in ghosts and you don't have to agree with everything I've said but I really believe and I hope you'r enjoyed this post. If you've any experiences with the paranormal or can explain anything to me then feel free to get in touch.