Observations placeholder
Laubscher, B J F – Mr Sp catches a glimpse of the 1900s in May 1938 in Pietermaritzburg
Identifier
023265
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
B J Laubscher – Where Mystery dwells
Mr. Sp. writing from Pietermaritzburg told about his unique experience as follows :
"It was a bright sunny day in May 1938 in Pietermaritzburg. My wife and I, who were in this city on holiday, were walking along one of the main thoroughfares in a residential area, when we entered a narrow street on our way to friends. This was practically a lane; I noticed that a car was parked on one side facing towards me, and that a little group of people were going down this street.
We were walking briskly and soon caught up with this group which consisted of a little old woman, dressed all in black, and a few paces behind her were four boys from fourteen to fifteen years of age.
"I did not notice anything about the woman's costume to date it. but I was surprised to see that the boys were dressed in a style which had been common during the early years of the century, but which had gone out of fashion since the 1914-1918 war. These boys, although barefooted all wore blue peaked caps, blue polo-necked jerseys and rather long shorts. They had a poverty-stricken appearance and the fact that they were shoeless on a cold day confirmed this. I also wondered why they were not at school. As we passed them I was shocked to hear that they were baiting the old woman, passing such rude remarks as 'Go on you old witch' and 'You are a witch.'
'The poor old woman looked dreadfully harassed and as we passed she entered the front gate of one of the houses. The boys stood in a group in front of the gate and continued to call out to her. Now in the ordinary way I would have choked them off as hooligans but while I wanted to do this something within me prevented me. I seemed to realize somehow that I could do nothing to protect the old woman from her tormentors. As we passed I turned to my wife and asked her whether she did not agree that what we had just witnessed was disgraceful.
"She looked at me with amazement all over her face and said that she did not know what I was talking about. I started to explain but her amazement grew, and as I turned round to show her the group of boys the street was deserted. It was impossible for boys to have run away in that short time. I am completely at a loss to account for this event. I am not psychic and this is the only experience of this kind that I have ever had." Mrs. Sp. added her recollections of what her husband had told her on that occasion.