CAN SPIRITS PERFORM HELPFUL TASKS? - Some cases discussed

The other day, I shared on my Facebook page this humorous cartoon concerning a helpful poltergeist performing household chores.

As one normally associates poltergeist activity with sometimes violent disruptions, it begged the question in my mind, `Is spirit capable of being helpful around a house or business`?

Well, I have one experience of my niece being rocked in her crib one night while staying at my house, and that was in front of both myself and her parents.

It was fascinating to see, as an unseen hand or force caused it to rock very gently.

Baby sleep - rocked gently by spirit

My brother (the father of my niece) being forever sceptical, performed a number of tests to reassure himself that there wasn`t a more rational explanation. And of course, there wasn`t.

I live no where near major areas of disruption such as railway lines, motorways or indeed any industrial process, so that notion was swiftly eliminated, and the floor upon which the crib rested had a solid base.

The sign of the cross?

Some years ago, I was visiting a restaurant in Earls Colne in Essex, where the owner shared with me an alleged phenomena. Every night after diners had left, the table cloth and cutlery would be replaced and set out for lunch for the following day.

And every morning, staff members would discover the knives and forks were reset in an `X` position on the table settings.

Maybe not very helpful, but the site upon which the restaurant was built had once an earlier medieval building that was once part of a monastic order.

Despite requests for myself to be allowed to set up cameras and baseline tests, the owners declined. So whether this was a story to simply drum up interest in the restaurant, I will never know.

A `haunted` sweet shop ..

Indeed, there is another tale from the West Midlands, where quite some years ago, a couple who ran a sweet (candy) shop would discover each morning that a window display of products had been rearranged, and packets of sweets left on shelves had been turned sideways which gave the impression of soldiers standing to attention on military parade.

The shop had an interesting history, as it had always been a sweet shop since the mid-Victorian era, and perhaps one of the former owners had decided to stay on to keep a watchful eye over it`s display.

The Old Bell - Haunted by a helpful chambermaid?

Another tale of a friendly poltergeist was alleged to have occurred at Dursley, in Gloucestershire at the premises of `The Old Bell`.

Legend has it that many years ago in this 15th century Inn, a chambermaid committed suicide by hanging herself in Room 6, at the hotel.

Guests in that room had reported going to bed leaving their clothes in a heap to discover the following morning that the clothes had been picked up during the night, and neatly folded.

A waitress at the same premises also claimed that she had placed tables out for an event the following day, and upon returning later all of the cutlery and condiments had been set out for her, saving her the task.

Naturally there were no other staff members present at this time, and so it was assumed it may have been the friendly chambermaid who had committed suicide all those years earlier.

I am more than sure there are probably umpteen stories and experiences of friendly poltergeist activity from around the world, and these stories are but a few.

So like all tales of the paranormal, there are always good and bad experiences to share.

Story: Chris Halton