31 May 2012

Ghost in New Orleans?

Back in 2004, I was in New Orleans for a workshop. The trainers were friendly and made sure all the participants had something to do most nights. We went to dinner one night. On another night, they arranged a walking tour with a guide in the French quarter. It took place just after dark. We were going to see Marie LeVeau's house.

I was rubbernecking my way along and ended up getting behind. One of the trainers dropped back to walk with me causing me to hurry a little. We were half a block behind when I saw this man walking down the cross street. He crossed right in front of the rest of the group. I thought sure they'd slow down to let him by since he wasn't slowing down. As I crossed the street, I glanced in the direction the walker had taken-nowhere in sight. I shrugged my shoulders. "Hmmm. Weird." was my reaction as I kept trying to catch the others. He was dressed in black and white and should have been visible still.

"Did you see that?" Trainer asked.

"Yeah"

Nothing more was said until we were inside the last stop and having a snack. When the others asked what we were talking about, they thought we were joking. It was hard to believe they hadn't seen him since they were about to walk right over him. After a few minutes of discussion, the others were amazed and a little put out that they hadn't had such an experience. It was what they had hoped for when we went on the tour.

Are those who see such things more open to the next world? Or are they more observant of their surroundings? I used to sit with friends and family listening to various experiences. It got to the point where we could tell when one was making something up and when one actually saw something that wasn't readily explainable. Course many of these conversations were held safely away from those who would put the kibosh to our doings. We needed to be taught the right way of doing these things. Still, I wonder.