SILENT VOICES

For as long as I can remember, I have always been aware of spirit…. As a young child, I played with my ‘imaginary friends’ which played a big part in my life…. The thing was though – they never seemed to grow up as I did and they never really went away. I sort of just knew that I was different, and didn’t dare share my special friends with my family as I knew that they wouldn’t approve.

I was brought up a staunch Roman Catholic and my father was a member of the clergy. This may have been seen as something ‘evil’ in those days, and so I kept it all to myself. Throughout my childhood and well into my teens I was very aware of spirit which at times frightened me… Not only did I now see my little friends, but adults too.

As a teenager, I felt weird and odd with this strange ability…. I therefore embraced my religion with two arms and just hoped that it would all disappear. That however was not meant to be. At the tender age of sixteen, I entered a Monastic order and dedicated my life to seclusion and prayer… These were happy days filled with love and peace.

During this time however, spirit continued to be present within my life. It caused great inner turmoil as I wrestled between my faith and spirit. Eventually, I decided that my chosen ‘way of life’ and my relationship with spirit was incompatible and so with a heavy heart I left the monastery for ever…

During this time my world fell apart as my closest friend died in a tragic car accident. These events made me question myself, my faith, Spirit and the world as a whole. I felt desolate with no where to go and no one to turn to. Following the death of my friend, communication with spirit enhanced greatly… Spirit was there in the morning when I awoke and remained until I went to bed at night. It frightened the life out of me and I didn’t know how to control it. Was I going mad? Did I suffer from some sort of mental illness???

I decided to find out and went to see my GP. I don’t think that I will ever forget the look on his face when I told him that I could see and hear dead people… A referral was made rather quickly for me to see a psychiatrist. I was so very nervous about going for my appointment. What if I really was mad? Would they lock me up? During the consultation, I was very aware of a little old lady who was in spirit standing right beside the psychiatrist… This was it… did I tell or not? After a moment of thought, I decided to tell her all about the little lady. It turned out that the lady was a relative of the psychiatrist. She was astounded with the accuracy of the detail that I was able to give her and decided that I wasn’t mad after all and that was that!

This left me in quite a quandary! I had no idea what I was going to do or where I was going to find help… At least if I was mentally ill, then perhaps I would be medicated and receive treatment; but to be told that I was not mentally unwell – that left me back at square one. But, I needn’t of worried, help did come in the form of a chance tarot reading.

The tarot reader ‘knew’ that I was able to see and hear ‘spirit’… During the reading I broke down and told her my story. She listened patiently and once I had finished, she told me that she would help me ‘open up’ and more importantly to ‘close down’. She told me that I was a ‘natural medium’; what ever that meant and that I should use this ability to bring peace to others and witness that there is no death and that the soul lives on.

As the years went by, Spirit became just another part of my life, but with the knowledge I had gained of opening up and closing down, life was much easier. Over the years, I gave numerous readings to individuals, some were happy, others were sad.

I remember one particular client who came to see me hoping to connect with spirit. Happily her mother came through and there were tears of joy. I wasn’t expecting however for what was to happen next… I was aware of another lady standing right behind me also claiming to be her mother. I remember not knowing what to say or think, but from experience I knew that I would have to just say what came through…

As a medium I am simply a vessel to receive and impart information. It is not for me to suggest or alter any information. It is my role to relay what comes through, providing it is not going to cause hurt to an individual. In this instance I openly shared that there was another lady standing behind me who also claimed to be her mother. My client stared at me in disbelief and then stated that she was adopted as a baby. She also shared that she had never met her biological mother in this life time because she had already passed over to spirit before she had chance to meet her. I was able to relay personal details and messages of love to her. It was a beautiful sitting and one which I will never forget.

Another client came to see me hoping to connect with family members who had passed over. As usual, I was unaware of who she was hoping to communicate with but I was very quickly aware of a teenage boy in the room. He gave me his name and said that he had passed over very suddenly and unexpectedly whilst playing football at school. The young lady burst into tears and stated that it was her son who had come through and confirmed that he had passed over unexpectedly two years ago from a heart defect which no one knew about whilst playing football in school. Although these circumstances were very sad indeed, I was thrilled that I was able to pass on messages from her son which did give her peace.

I’ve always viewed my mediumship as something which is very precious, but also something which must be communicated sensitively with love and care. Mediums have a moral obligation to safe guard their clients from undue distress and their primary role must be to deliver evidence that life is un ending.

For several years, I have been involved in a number of paranormal investigation companies/ groups and this has widened the volume of individuals that I have been able to demonstrate to. In December of last year, my business partner and I decided to set up our own Ghost Hunting Company - After Dark Ghost Hunts. This gave me an opportunity to reach as many people as possible in providing evidence of survival of the soul and to date this is going extremely well. Long may this continue as I continue in my work.
 

Dave Tarbrook is both the Spiritual Medium and one of the Managing Directors of After Dark Ghost Hunts (After Dark Ltd). The company hosts public paranormal investigations at some of the most haunted locations throughout the UK. For further information or to contact Dave or the team, visit www.afterdarkghosthunts.com