The psychic gene has long been in my family. When I was young, I used to see ghosts. I was surprised but not scared. My mother used to entertain us with family stories such as her uncle as a child told his mother that he had seen an angel come down and take the baby away. When my great grandmother looked in the cot, the baby was dead.
I found as I grew older, the psychic thing became intrusive, so I joined a circle in order to learn how to protect myself and the steps on how to shut it down. This has proven very effective for me. I tend only to open up in class or when I’m in England in the Cathedrals.
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| Linedesfarme Priory St Cuthbert statue. |
So, with that introduction, this year I went to Lindisfarne, Holy Island in Northumberland on the Alison Weir tour. It’s important to give a little bit of history in order for you to understand the vision I had while I was there. In 684, St Cuthbert was the bishop at Holy Island until the Viking raids over the years drove him and his brethren off. When he passed away in 687, he was buried in Lindisfarne, the place becoming a site for pilgrims.
So I sat in peace meditating and a small voice said to me, “We tried.” I knew it was one of the monks. It was a timid voice, so I spoke to him calmly about how it wasn’t their fault. No one could withstand the Viking raids. To give an indication of what it was like for these poor peaceful men see below:
Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar in Charlemaine’s court at the time, wrote: "Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race ... The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets." During the attack many of the monks were killed, or captured and enslaved. (Source: Wikipedia)
It’s not usual for me to have these sorts of communications in Holy places as the psychic channel is very clear. For those who don’t have this gift, I can only describe it as being in a channel of white light where I can see and hear things clearly.
Later that morning, I went and sat on the seat next to the giant sculpture of St Cuthbert. Then a vision opened up. I saw lots of monks standing closely together facing the statue. Their cloaks were long and their hoods were up. They were a near black colour and very stiff as if impregnated with wax. I couldn’t see the face, not a nose, not anything. Just black dressed monks all facing the same way. I knew I had stepped back into the past when the monks worshipped in Lindisfarne.
Later that day, I went to one of the three pubs to have a coffee, and I ran into our tour leader, eminent historian, Alison Weir. She’s used to me telling her the odd things I see and always gives me a logical historical interpretation. I was explaining that the robes were close to black but not perfectly black and of course, Alison gave the historical perspective that the monks didn’t have dyes like we do. Also, the hoods were fashioned that way, so they could have privacy in prayer.
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| Wiki commons photo of monks in prayer. |
History tells us in 793, the monks fled, digging up and carrying St. Cuthbert’s incorrupt remains away to eventually be buried in Durham Cathedral.
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| St Cuthbert carving at Durham Castle. |
So while Lindisfarne remains a beautiful ruin, I think some of the monks have remained, which from my experience is not unusual. When you die you have choice. You don’t have to cross over if you don’t want to. These men choose to stay.
Check out Cathleen's release, which came up runner up in the ARR Awards for best historical fiction:
An Unsuitable Bride
It’s 1918, the war’s nearly over and people are looking for fun. Anna Hall is delighted when her wealthy, older fiancé, Max Elliot invites her on a holiday to the Hunting Lodge in the beautiful Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains. But once there, she finds everything is not as it seems. Everyone has secrets and she soon finds herself entangled in a dangerous web of lies and deception.
Anna has a secret too but she cannot admit it for fear of vilification.
Max has a secret that will destroy Anna’s life, only he’s not prepared to tell her until he’s had his fun with her.
Jack-of-all-trades at the Hunting Lodge, Thomas Rutherford, has three secrets. He’s fallen for Anna, knows the real story as to why her fiancé, Max can’t marry her; he also doesn’t wish to admit he has shellshock and can no longer work as a doctor.
But the worst secret of all is how did Max’s last fiancée, Cora Hanson die?
Will Anna be next?
Cathleen Ross
You can find Cathleen at cathleenross.com/CR/.
