Is there anybody out there??

My mum won tickets to go and see a psychic medium. She asked me if I'd like to go along. "This is bound to be shite," I thought. 


"Sure", I said. "Why not?"


Now the thing is I'd love to believe there's life out there. Somewhere we can all hang out with our grandparents and long-lost pets. And if I could get proof it ain't all over when it's over, I'd be ecstatic. It just hasn't happened yet.

So it was with a half open mind that I went along to see Shaun Dennis. The poor northern man's John Edwards in an ill fitting suit jacket and bad hair. He was half stand up comedian, half bingo caller, and apparently part medium. 








"I'm getting an Alex, an Alex. Anyone? Alex. It could be Alan. Anyone? Alan. A name beginning with A.L.?"


Looked like I wasn't going to get my proof of the afterlife tonight. 


But then things picked up. He had a few tenuous strikes of gold as the evening wore on, a few correct house numbers, a few dead relatives in the navy, and then suddenly he got on a roll. 


"Ok I'm getting a Patricia, she's covered in red patches, a terrible rash, sore patches, and she's drinking acid."


"That could be my mother," piped up one bald dude in the audience. "Her name was Patricia, she was stung by a bee came out in a bad reaction. Big red patches."


"And did she take acid?"


"She had to apply some kind of acid."


"And it wasn't this that killed her, but it contributed to her death?"


"Yes."


"And there's a James, son of James who has been pulled over by the police for speeding, and sorry to say this, was carrying some weed in his pocket and I don't mean the Bill & Ben variety?"


"Err yes, that's my cousin James. Patricia's grandson. His father was James too."


"I don't think he's going to get into much trouble."


"No, he just got a pardon."


"And I seem to think that it won't slow him down!"


"No, it won't!"


"And I'm seeing something like the two-finger signal as he drives by. Does that make sense?"


"Yes he has that sticker in the back of his car."


Now I kid you not. This was all said. As I write this I'm wondering whether that guy was planted and we were all stitched up. But there was more conversations like that that seemed, well, convincing. 


Then he spoke to my mum about 'Margaret or Peggy' (my nan), who's linked to the letter H - Halifax? (Hornchurch - where my mum was born), and a guy who'd had bowel or stomach problems (my grandad), and he'd had an operation that had led to complications, to adhesions. (He'd had an operation which resulted in severe adhesions and him having half his bowel removed.) Then he asked my mum "did someone meet royalty? or live in a street that was called King St, or Queen St, or Queen's Rd near a station? It might not be you, it might be someone with you." And it took me a while, but then I grabbed the mike and said, "I've met Prince Charles, and I lived in Queen's Rd near a station." 


And I moved there shortly after my grandad died. 


Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not convinced. But there was something in it. And a big part of me wanted to believe. I came out still sceptical, but a bit more open. 


Then we were handed flyers for more medium action the next night. Oh shit.

I really couldn't be bothered and had been really looking forward to a night in, but my 'yes' urge took over. Plus my mum reminded me that I'd been trying to persuade her to join me on my 'yes' mission. So tonight we headed back to the Queen's Hall to join the Spiritual Church of Narberth. 


Now luckily I hadn't seen the word 'church' before giving it my 'yes'. I naively thought it would be an open night of psychics on tables that you could go and have a chat with. Instead we were welcomed into a room which was set up like... a church. We were given hymn books, and sat facing an altar with a big cross on it. Some people were getting spiritual healing, and others were sat chatting. 


Me, my mum and her mate denny glanced at each other as we sat down, and smiled politely at all the other ladies who all seemed to know each other. It was all very informal, and thankfully carried on that way once the 'service' had begun. We sang a few hymns (I had to contain bursts of laughter more than once), and then we had an oddly fitting reading from Helen Steiner-Rice about being thankful (something I'm big into at the moment). 


Then the evening's medium stood up and started giving out her messages. I liked this cuddly peach-clad woman more than sketchy blazer dude from the night before. Though while some of it was pretty persuasive and she seemed to know what she was talking about, there was nothing that made me sit up and clap "hallelujah, there is life after death!" 


Overall this was a big 'yes' success. It wasn't life changing, but it was life enhancing. I'm just loving the random places it's taking me, into random people's lives. These people get together on a Friday night, sing hymns and receive messages from the dead. And then do a raffle. Brilliant. 


I won this:

  
Apparently my 'Free Life Activation taster session' will take place at the crystal shop down the road from the hall. Watch this space.