When I woke from my nap, I went outside to enjoy some sun, clean the pool, swim and relax. At about 4 pm I went inside to get dinner ready. The evening was pretty uneventful. The days I had off went on fairly routinely, with me doing cleaning around the house, laundry, dinner, and spending the evenings with the kids and my husband.
The evenings that I worked, I would get home at around 3 am, climb into bed exhausted, and get up with my husband to help him get the two older kids out the door for school, and to get our youngest ready for daycare. I would normally take a nap in the afternoons so that I could be rested for work those evenings. After what happened that first night; I would always feel a twinge of apprehension during that part of the tour. Most of the time I would allow the guests to take their photos and I would stand where I felt was a safe distance away. I often told the tour guests of my experience there, but not in as much detail as I have here. I would always remember the dream I’d had, but I eventually chalked it up to coincidence that I’d had the dream that night as opposed to some other night.
I had forgotten about the books I purchased until I was cleaning up our bedroom a couple of weeks later. I have a chair on my side of the bedroom that my grandfather gave me when he first moved in with my parents. He was a rather tall man, and the chair had belonged to one of his girlfriends. Since it was much too small for him to use, he asked if I could use it, and it’s been in my bedroom ever since. I had set up a small reading area on that side of the room, but for the most part the chair gets used for clothes and anything else that I don’t feel like putting up right away. I think I’ve actually used that chair to sit and read once since I’ve had it! As I was sorting through the pile of clean clothes on the chair and putting them away, I saw the bag with the books inside. After I finished cleaning, I put dinner in the oven and sat down to thumb through the books.
One of the books I’d purchased was written by a woman who was the former manager for the ghost tour company in St. Augustine I worked for. Curious, I looked in the Table of Contents to see if the Inn where I’d had my incident was mentioned. I found it, and I excitedly turned to that particular chapter’s page and began to read. All of the stories I’d learned for the different stops on the tour were mentioned, and then I got to one that was unfamiliar. She described the experiences of a family who had stayed there years ago over Halloween. The wife reminded me of myself; interested in investigating the paranormal and obtaining evidence. She had chosen to stay at that particular inn purposely, due to its haunted reputation. The woman mentioned having a visitation by a female spirit during her stay. She said the woman was of Spanish decent and she had also seen what she thought to be the woman’s death in her dream. Intrigued, I read on. The wife had done some research and said she believed this spirit to be the spirit of a woman who had been “…killed by a Spanish soldier’s sword; although no documentation exists of her death.” What was even more interesting was there was hardly any documentation of this woman at all. There were birth records; all others were destroyed in the first of two fires that devastated quite a bit of that part of old St Augustine. The Inn; however, and the corner it stands on as well as the next block made it through unscathed during both fires. The woman in the book mentioned that she planned on continuing to research until she found out with more certainty who this Spanish woman was, and if she could document any involvement with a Spanish soldier of the era. I remember thinking since the death I saw in my dream was very similar to the one the woman described in the book to the author, this must be the same spirit. In my opinion, there is no succubus at that location, only the spirit of the Spanish woman merely trying to get her murder solved and get justice. Coincidently, a little later in the book, there is a story of a Spanish Soldier said to walk certain streets of Saint Augustine’s historic district. This soldier, according to the book, had an affair with a well respected Spanish gentleman’s wife when he was alive. This Spanish gentleman was said by some to be the Governor of Saint Augustine during the first Spanish occupation; before the British arrived. There are some conflicts in the stories; however, which happens when dealing with folklore passed down through the generations via oral tradition. In one version, the soldier was hired by the Governor to kill his wife. Because the Governor was bound by strict Catholic doctrine to his wife, divorce was not an option. He saw this as the only way to be free to pursue another woman he had become infatuated with. Another version of the story is that the soldier fell in love with the Governor’s wife and they had an affair. When the Governor found out, he had both of them killed, and the soldier and Spanish woman both are earthbound spirits due to the fact they have not yet gotten justice for their murders. I worked for the ghost tour company for a rather short period of time, only 3 months. In those 3 months, I had experiences almost every night I worked. I never had another negative experience like the one I had my first night. I believe this is due to the fact that I started taking measures to protect myself.
After finishing for the night and before heading home, I would say the following aloud, “I am going home now. Anyone who may be with me must stay here. I do not want anyone following me home; interacting with me or scaring my children. I will see you again next time I work. I am the living; therefore I make the rules on this plane. Please respect my wishes.” It may seem silly to some; especially those who are skeptical regarding the existence of Spirit. In my work, I often come across those that have the same views I had before I started doing those ghost tours in Saint Augustine. They think if you ignore the activity it will go away, or that by denying Spirit’s existence altogether; they will be safe. You see, being a skeptic doesn’t necessarily protect you from a spirit draining your energy, forming an attachment to you, or communicating with you–especially if you are a sensitive and are unaware of your abilities–which was the case with me. I believe that it is easier for spirits to communicate with us in our unconscious sleep states; hence the dream I’d had about the Spanish woman’s murder. I firmly believe that spirits know when a person is a sensitive; whether the person is aware or not. Spirits with a consciousness, those that are aware they have passed on, will be drawn to a sensitive because they know their presence is felt. I have always attracted spirit activity, and friends jokingly call me The Ghost Magnet. I wasn’t aware until about a year ago that the reason I did was because I was a sensitive and an empath. My propensity for attracting paranormal activity was a big reason why I was hired. I never had one tour go out with me where the guests were disappointed. There were always personal experiences; such as hair pulling, someone being touched, or hearing someone whisper in their ear, and there was always some form of photographic evidence captured.
The ghost tour company I worked for had two customized hearses that we used to drive our guests to the various stops on the tour. They definitely added to the creepiness that guests are looking for when they sign up for a ghost tour. The hearses our company owned had been actual working hearses in their “former lives” and were said to be haunted as well. I was pretty skeptical about the validity of those claims until I showed up for work one night and the hearse I normally drove was taken by another driver.
…to be continued…
soul posts 