I’ve been cursed/blessed by supernatural experiences throughout my life and the one common factor in nearly all of them was that they were solitary experiences, easy to dismiss by others or even myself. But what happened last summer was entirely different.
I’d been living in my flat for three and a half years and felt very safe there, both on a physical and spiritual level. There were a few occasions where I’d caught sight of movement in my bedroom doorway that I’d put down to tiredness as I hadn’t got any ‘vibes’, good or bad, from them.. One night, in June 2022, I woke up to the sound – and the movement of the mattress being weighed down – of something climbing onto my bed behind me. My first thought was that I had an intruder, in which case I was in serious trouble. I was frozen in fear, but after a while I realised that whatever it was was too small to be a human and it eventually curled up by my back. I fell asleep and woke up in the morning, alone.
The general consensus was that it was the ghost of a dog or cat that felt safe enough with me to approach me. It was true that, despite my fear, I hadn’t felt any malevolent intent from Whatever It Was. I assumed the incident was a one-off but I was wrong; Whatever It Was began making frequent visits, always following the same routine. So I changed mine – I slept in a different position, put a night light on – and it kept the visitor at bay for a couple of days but then its manifestation escalated. It would now climb onto either side of the bed to curl up behind me and then it escalated further: I woke up to find a huge, black cat sitting on my chest looking down at me. I spoke to it and stroked it then fell asleep again.
I began dreading bedtime. I needed the ghost cat to leave. I burned white sage in my bedroom and instructed the cat to depart. It made no difference and I realised I needed to bring the big guns in, so I turned to two wise women from a nearby village. I’d interviewed the pair some years ago and they were well-known figures in the area, and I felt they could do the job compassionately. By the time they came to my home I’d been suffering the visitations for around six weeks and I was quite ragged.
After a chat, the women dowsed every room in the flat, finishing in the bedroom. They told me of their findings: a woman was standing at my bedroom window, looking out at the church next door, which she’d had strong links with during her life. She’d died in the house many, many years ago and had been at the window ever since. The cat was hers; she’d sent it to comfort me as I was grieving. This was very touching to learn but I couldn’t have them stay. Despite their benevolent intentions the visits were terrifying and disruptive. So the wise women performed a cleansing ritual in every room, using herbs, incense and blessed water. I was allowed to observe until they got to the bedroom. They shut the door and were in there for some time. I heard a voice but whose it was and what was being said wasn’t clear. When they emerged they explained they’d “had words” with the ghostly woman and had told her that her and the cat’s presence weren’t required. The woman had left the house and I was told that should the visitations resume a protective charm would be made to hang at my bedroom window.
It was a lot to process; I’d been sharing my home with a ghost for years, albeit a kind one, without being aware of it. The wise women had confirmed the haunting was real. I’d always believed in the existence of ghosts and to me this was absolute proof, both of this event and of all my previous experiences. I hadn’t spent my life inventing them. It was a huge moment.
Several months on, my home is still peaceful, although it took a while to relax enough to be able to sleep. I still wonder about the woman at the window. Had she been happy lingering? Or had she got stuck here somehow? I can only hope she knows I was grateful for her efforts and that she – and her cat – are at peace.
LEVANTHIA 