The weekend event at Farnham has already been underway for a day when we arrived on Saturday afternoon to take part in Day 2 of the investigation. Ian
Lawman had already started his Q&A session with the group when we entered the Great Hall, eagerly anticipating what the Medium had to say about his life as
a psychic and clairvoyant. Ian certainly came across throughout the night as both genuine and likeable person, and I certainly was keen to see him in action. The
Q&A was followed by a demonstration of Clairvoyance, where Ian was on occasions amazingly and jaw-droppingly accurate. This certainly raised expectations
for the night ahead, especially as we were also joined by 2 of our resident mediums John and Isobel.
Before embarking on the first vigil I took a member from each of the teams to set up a couple of experiments throughout the castle. Firstly we took an original
book of Farnham Castle from the 1940's upstairs to one of the rooms behind the Library for a trigger object experiment, where one of the team drew around the
book while I setup a Negative Ion Detector attached to the paper together with a radio left on an open frequency - this would allow us to remotely hear the NID
alarm should anything set it off. The second experiment was set up in the lower stairwell behind the Normal Chapel, where we placed the stealth-cam half way
up the stairs, and motion-sensors were placed on the bottom step again with a radio on open frequency. It was now time to start the investigation.
My first vigil took a team to the Bishop's Chapel where after the baselines were taken we all sat around sharing ghost stories for a while, a tactic I often use to
help relax the group and help them open up to any activity that may take place - after all, how often are paranormal experiences encountered when people are
actually looking for them? The mood was relaxed and after a few sensations from some of the team in the room we decided upon a group séance sat in the
centre of the Chapel, on the exact point where apparently Ian had previously mentioned he had sensed that a ritual murder had taken place. Sat in a circle with
our fingers linked I prepared the group by asking them to imagine a circle of protective light moving from one team member to the next. Asking out for some sign
of presence everything remained very quiet, so I asked for Maxine who was probably the most spiritually sensitive member of the team to ask out. Shortly after
she had begun we noticed that Anita, who was sat two places to my right, appeared to be changing her breathing pattern and started to become more distant
from the group. We asked if she was OK, but we got no response, her eyes were closed but her breathing had become deeper and more pronounced, so we
asked her again - no response. This was Anita's first investigation, and like me she held healthy scepticism with regards the paranormal, so her failure to respond
was a little concerning. At this point it became clear that Anita was not in a comfortable state, physically or psychologically, and we were forced to break the link
in order to come to her assistance. At this point Anita appeared to become aware and more lucid, but it was also apparent that she was uncertain as to who we
were, and did not appear to understand what she was doing in the room. As I took her hand to try and comfort her it then became clear that she was unnerved
by our presence, and mine in particular, as if she was afraid of what I might do. Still sat on the floor Anita shuffled herself nervously across the floor until her
back was rested against the paneling behind her, clearly concerned for her own safety. This experience was not only unnerving for Anita, but the entire team
were starting to wonder whether she would snap out of this momentary lapse in consciousness. However a few moments passed and Anita appeared to suddenly
snap out of it, which added to the confusion because she was unaware of why she was sat up against the paneling and concerned as to the reasons why we
were all sat around her.
I decided that it was in Anita's best interest to take her out of the atmosphere and return to base, leaving the rest of the team with Kelly to complete the vigil.
On our way down to the main hall it was clear that Anita was shaken and a little disturbed by this experience, and shortly after described how she had no
recollection of the period between when I had finished asking out and when she found herself propped up against the paneling, wondering what on earth we
were all doing sat around her. She could not recall Maxine asking out, and her last clear memory of the experience was imagining a bright white light circling
the group - after that she found herself away from the circle with me crouched over her holding her hand - naturally she was confused and a little upset by the
whole experience. After the vigil had finished and the other groups had returned, Anita spent some time with Isobel who helped her with some healing, and
after a short while she was thankfully back to her old self. Whether or not this was simply a psychological reaction to the experience of the séance, especially as
it had been a long and tiring weekend and was also her first investigation, or whether a spirit presence had indeed come close enough for her to lose
consciousness for a few minutes, we will never know for certain. What is clear however is that Anita is not prone to these kind of episodes, and considering the
environment we cannot discount the likelihood that something truly paranormal had taken hold of one of our team members.
After such an intriguing and slightly worrying start to the investigation, our second vigil paired us up with Ian Lawman in the Great Hall. We split the team into
2 groups, with Ian taking one group onto the balcony area surrounding the room while Kelly and I remained with the rest of the team in the main Hall. We split
up to cover as much of the room as possible, and I began by asking out for any presence to make itself known to us. Things remained quiet, so Ian began
to try and encourage any spirit energies in the room to come forward. It was shortly after this that I began to view strange light anomalies on the Night vision
Camera, some of which were most likely dust or insects, but others appeared more unexplainable, pulsating and 'flitting' around near the wall furthest
from the main door to the side of the grand piano. These lights could very well be insects, however the issue was raised by the group that no insects had
been witnessed in the room during the day, while temperatures outside were almost freezing - we are always aware that the chances of insects appearing
on night vision are greater during the summer months when they are much more prevalent. Nevertheless this gave us food for thought as Ian and his team joined
us back in the main Hall to take part in another linked séance, this time while sat in comfortable chairs rather than on a hard wooden floor (which was somewhat of
a relief). Ian began the séance with prayer and protection before asking out for spirit energies to make themselves known to us. All in all there wasn't much
discernable activity, although one of the team said she felt nervous, and her temperature appeared to fluctuate rapidly when recorded by the Infra Red
temperature gun. Of most interest was observing Ian at work within a séance, and it was indeed a pleasure to have him lead the experiment even if we were
unfortunate not to get a great deal of activity.
Our third vigil was an unusual deviation from the standard format, as all 4 groups joined Ian in the Bishop's Chapel for a joint séance. With over 30 people
crammed into the room we handed things over to Ian, eagerly anticipating whether such a great amount energy in the room would bare fruit. Again
Ian began the séance with prayer and protection before asking out for any sign of presence. Initially things were a little quiet, with a few group members
suggesting the odd change in temperature, but nothing significant. John was then asked by Ian to give his impressions of any spirit activity in the room, after which
he proceeded to link in with an active energy, informing the group that they would make every effort to give us all some kind of genuine activity in the room.
This certainly raised expectations, as we were all eager to experience something. After some time had passed Ian began to describe some mental impressions of
religious rituals taking place in the chapel, describing a man in a red robe walking forward towards the altar at the end. He went on to describe
what sounded like a ritual killing or sacrifice taking place, which was enough to stoke the atmosphere in the room. During Ian's description of events it appeared
that Jackie, one of the more sensitive members of the group, appeared to tell him to 'sshhhh' after which she described the sensation of seeing herself without
any clothes on. She went on to explain that she believed more than one of the group were experiencing the same sensations, although nobody admitted to
this, at which point her sister (who was sitting to her right) simply burst into tears. It was not clear to the rest of the group what was actually happening,
however it was suggested that they had taken on the conditions of 2 young women who were there to take part in this ritualistic ceremony which Ian had
earlier described. It was also apparent around this time that the temperature in the room began to fall, specifically felt by team members across their legs,
which I can also testify to experiencing. Shortly after this episode it was decided by Ian to lift any conditions within the room and close the circle. It had
certainly been a unique and interesting experience.
My final vigil of the night was another deviation from the norm, as I was joined by my good friend Kev (a self-proclaimed psychic blocker) in the Castle cellars.
This was actually the most enjoyable vigil of the night, even though we experienced no activity whatsoever. Kev and I shared stories of the supernatural and
described some of our more personal paranormal experiences, in an attempt to take our minds off simply sitting in a dark and damp cellar asking out for signs of
activity. We were later joined by Andy, who regaled us with his previous experiences in this room where he had once described being physically pushed by
unseen hands during a previous investigation. Andy was once again sensing an energy nearby, and was willing for some activity to affect either Kev or myself.
As is always the case however, nothing of significance happened. The temperature did however appear to drop specifically at the point when Andy entered the cellar,
while Kev did describe how he was unable to get his video camera to focus properly on Andy, even though it appeared to focus correctly when pointed towards me.
And with that our investigation had come to an end. I returned with 2 of the team members to check the experiments we had set up earlier in the night, but
unfortunately neither the trigger object or stealth cam had captured any signs of activity. All in all it had been an eventful and enjoyable investigation,
made all the more special by having the opportunity of working with Ian Lawman who was a credit to his profession. I very much look forward to working with
him again.
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