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Thursday, January 8, 2015

The Ghost in the Mirror.


The Ghost in the Mirror



               Ever since I was young I was told that a spirit would see its own reflection in a mirror and be drawn into the looking glass. I never gave it much thought and throughout my paranormal past it had never happen to me….till.
Before I became a paranormal researcher of haunting, I lived off a canal that made the Island of Wilton Manors, Fort Lauderdale.  Parts of a wild preserve on the Island are considered Indian Burial Ground. You might see brick around the back of the property not knowing that they are the bits and pieces of an original home that was there but no longer since the hurricane of 1926. I lived on the Eastside of the Island in a 1960’s Duplex. Nice quite community with a park for dogs and people who like to fish and launch there boats from the ramp provided by Fort Lauderdale.

Our side of the duplex was nice and large, probably the “Daughter’s” side of the home. But the home was a bit on the dark side due to large trees that were on the property. The backyard was a lagoon that went through the middle of the park.  Our side of the duplex was a very Mid-Century design and small kitchen that only one person could be in at one time, yet it had great living space that faced a grotto.
One of the small spots was the hallway and on the entrance on the left side was a mirror. This mirror was built into the wall and seemed to be very old. As you would look into it some areas of the mirror looked distorted…warped in a circle pattern. It was one of those items that your head would wind up pointing your eyes and gaze a bit. One time I thought I seen the distorted area move with a shadow of short woman walking around my room. Freaked me out during that time due what I’ve been put through living in a haunted home on Long Island.
At night I would sleep and sometimes hear an elderly lady talking loudly to an elderly man. The sound was like she was in a heated argument with some man who didn’t say much except a humming of agreement. It only started when I put my head onto the pillow and if I heard it as soon as I picked my head up, it would stop.
Annoying……..    Yes!
Hard to get to sleep…..Yes!
My other half……Asleep as a log.
That wasn’t the kicker….. You would sometimes feel like someone flicking your hair towards the back of your head. I once stood; wide eyes open to the darkness of the night. Waiting for all of the “things” to happen…..Nothing, Only to put your head down to rest and get that flick, poke, swipe of your hair. I would sometimes put the covers over my head so it couldn’t get under this type of attack. What a I used to do in my old bedroom that I grew up in when I felt a presence of a spirit or ghost.
Not too long after that, the landlord came around to do some yard work. I got the opportunity to talk to him about the property. I asked him about the previous owners and if they were an elderly couple. He asked me why and I was just curious. He said it was an elderly couple that lived in my half of the duplex. Her husband passed away inside the home. His wife died shortly afterwards. He said he used to live on the other side of the duplex (small side) which was all updated due to a fire from a tenant who moved in afterwards when he purchased the house from the elderly couple next of kin. He then asked me again why I was asking this question, I said to him that in the evening I would hear an elderly couple arguing in the next room, muffled yet loud. His eyes widened and told me that the couple would fight constantly as they progressed in age. I didn’t want to tell him about the twitching of the hair.

Now as a ghost researcher/paranormal investigator I found many other places that had “Haunted Mirrors”. There are two that stand out in my head the most and both are in Williamsburg.  I used to live in Tidewater Virginia and Williamsburg was only a 30 minute drive. I never thought about investigating the area till I moved to Florida. I was on a trip back in Virginia and decided to take a tour through some of the old houses of the Historical District of Williamsburg. It was nice to roam through the streets and feel the energy of the old pathways.
The Governor’s Palace is a beautiful old mansion that I had to see if something was going on in on inside. The first mansion had its main building burnt down in 1781. The outside structures were left intact and the main building was reconstructed with wood that salvaged from other building in the area which was the same period of the first construction in 1699. Owned by the Duke of Gloucester Street its decorations of period painting, dance hall, gunnery rooms, bedrooms and then there is the “Waiting Parlor”. 
While I was there, I took a picture of the “Waiting Parlor” because I just had one of those feelings that I must take a picture here. This picture was a 35mm film, taken in 1998. It is not digital as we know of now.

I took the picture and didn’t think about it till the film was processed and I found an image in the mirror. It was an image of man, dressed in 1800’s fashion. He kind of looked liked John Wilkes Booth. Here is a close up of the same picture.
You can see his wild curly hair and distinctive mustache and beard. Then I heard that he was killed at Colonial Beach about 40 miles away from Williamsburg. This fascinated me and I wondered if his ghost might have been captured in the mirror. I heard that most of the finishes of the main building came from around Colonial Williamsburg’s areas not too far from the historical site. Maybe it is of an attachment ghost?
As I went to building to building I found my way to the gaol (which is an old English term for Jail). It is one of the oldest buildings in town where I stood in line to take the tour.  Made of brick, stone and mortar, the building was quite dingy and dark once inside. They showed us the judge’s area, the jailor’s room and took us outside where the prisoners were held till court date. Some shackled to the ground and others had exposed rooms with hay to make a mattress like cushion. The lady in period clothing said goodbye and I approached her.
The girl was frail, pail with classic features. Her period clothes showed that she was not a well to do person or leisure as they called it. I asked her how long she worked there and she said about 6 months now, but she will be leaving because she will graduate from William and Mary College. “Did you ever encounter a ghost inside this place?” I asked. She looked back and forth from one side of the room to the other to make sure no-one was there and that everyone had left. She looked at me, with a slight fear in her eyes and said, “Oh, yes, very much so.” she told me.
Upstairs she has to put on her period clothing on and she invited me to go upstairs where she said was mostly used for mental patients. She point to the floor and and you could see areas where they must have attached chains to keep them apart from each other. She then told me that she would hear a “thud, thud, thud” sound as she changed like a person who would bang there head against the wall repeatedly as you find in some people who had mental problems.  It frightened her since she was at a venerable state of dress. She then mentioned to me that others have had experience the noise as well, but said that it would only happen around women. She did say that the men that worked prior there would see a dark shadow of a man sitting in the chair in the mirror. She said it was an original mirror that was used by the judge to make sure his judgment cloak was appropriate.  I asked her if she thought it might be the ghost of the judge during that time and she said that she did not know and that I had to leave because her next tour will be happening soon. I thanked her for her time and gave her a tip for willingness to tell me her story.
Here is the picture of the Gaol’s Mirror.


Is there truth in what has been considered tradition of covering a mirror during a time of mourning? Are you curious?  Start taking pictures in mirrors and see what you might find.

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