I polled my Instagram audience to choose the topic for this episode and the choices were either energy, or my trip to Chillingham Castle. Obviously, Chillingham Castle won! I decided to begin with the audio from a TikTok by @historyhit that gives some historical context before I share my experience. I spent years as a documenter for a paranormal investigators group in Vancouver, so visiting the castle was on my bucket list!
In addition to the eerie encounters, I also talked about my evolving beliefs around ghosts and earthbound spirits. As I’ve said on the podcast before, it’s important to remain flexible in our beliefs so that we can meet new experiences with curiosity. Grasping firmly to beliefs can also invalidate the lived experiences of others, and I think there is divinity in having differing perspectives.
I would love to hear your experiences with haunted places over in the free Spirit School community!
@historyhit TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@historyhit
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History of Chillingham Castle (@historyhit):
Chillingham Castle was a monastery in the 12th Century
Edward the first, the hammer of the Scots, led his Scottish campaigns from this locationThe first recorded accounts of the ghosts were penned by Lady Leonora TankervilleThere was an increase in occult spiritualism during Edwardian and Victorian timesSir Arthur Conan Doyle commended Lady Tankerville on her reports of the Chillingham ghostsThe current owner is from the original Gray family owners and has overseen renovationsGuests still report seeing flashes of blue similar to ghosts sightings of the pastA priest who traveled to get rid of ghosts said there were too many thereMy Experience of Chillingham Castle:
- I went when I was 19 years old in 2002, right out of high school and obsessed with Most Haunted
Putting this show together was fun because it brought up so much nostalgiaParanormal things and ghosts tend to be our entry into the spiritual spaceAt that time, I was immersed in books and TV shows with Sylvia Brown and John Edwards I joined a paranormal investigation group when the first Most Haunted episode came outI was so excited at that time and didn’t know that I was a medium yetI validated what the mediums got and went through photos and audio recordings of our outingsI caught some EVPs from those recordings and overnight ones from my bedsideMy ex husband was from England and we traveled once a yearWe stayed in the tower at Chillingham Castle in the off season and I was so excitedMy memories of this time are piecemeal because it was not a healthy relationshipScotland has my heart and I still want to visit there againI couldn’t believe how much I missed the mountains when travelingMy ex-husband and I were the only people there other than the caretaker We stayed in the tower, which was used for Scottish prisoners of warI was in awe of how much history was there compared to somewhere like VancouverGoing to the bathroom in the middle of the night was terrifying in the castleThe strangest thing that happened was not being able to see the castle on the only roadThe keeper gave us a midnight tour of the torture chamber that scared meOne paranormal thing that happened was light coming in and a loud popping noise that woke meI have heard a voice yelling my name in my ear a couple of times A friend’s mom came to me and I saw the Almost Famous poster and her name was PennyMy friend wasn’t initially receptive and that is part of why I don’t do drive-by readingsI am still unsure of my belief in earthbound spirits or if they have passed on and choose to visitPart of the reason I am undecided is that some teachers I respect believe in themWe never caught anything definitive in my paranormal investigation yearsBeautiful music or framing it as an angel experience could change your perspectiveOur beliefs are our choices and we have free willThe more spiritually aware we become, the more we realize we don’t knowBecause of Mavis’ beliefs, I firmly believed earthbound spirits didn’t exist a couple years agoI think there are reasons for mysteries, including the opportunity to expand our beliefsSome Spirit School Collective members share their experiences with haunted placesBeing stuck on specific beliefs limits our potential for spiritual growth and expansionI saw a full apparition of a little boy by my husband’s side of the bed when I was pregnantI lost that pregnancy and learned through a medium that it was my child that I sawBefore my trauma informed training I would negate people’s lived experiencesI like to straddle both sides of the conversation without imposing my beliefsEach of us having our own truth does not make it the capital T truthI believe there is a divine reason for us to be divided in spiritual beliefs