Observations placeholder

Joe Cassidy

THE DIVINER

Young children are more susceptible to the spirit world than adults are. They are more open to it. Many go round talking to an imaginary friend. I know that most people dismiss the idea of imaginary friends and think they're fanciful, but I believe that the friend is often a manifestation of the spirit of someone who has gone before.

It's not long before children become self-conscious. If they sense something, adults usually tell them not to be stupid and not to play with their imaginary friend. So they stop talking about it. As they grow and become involved in school, friendships and the complexities of life, more often than not they leave this phase of their life behind.

Through my work I've met many children who have communicated with a spirit in their house, but it's rare to find one with a strong gift. One day a woman asked me out to her house.

It was an old house near the centre of a town and was in a well-to-do area. The couple were renovating the house, but they had encountered problems: builders kept letting them down.

….….

I arrived in the afternoon, and the woman showed me around the house. We were chatting in the kitchen and I was about to go round the house by myself, to see what I could pick up, when this young girl burst in, in her school uniform. She ran up to the woman and gave her a hug.

‘Joe, this is my daughter, Sophie. Sophie, say hello to Mr Cassidy.'

Sophie was busy hanging her jacket on the back of a chair.

She was a beautiful little girl, with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. What I really noticed, though, was that she had this extraordinary aura. Waves of positive energy were coming from her. You couldn't miss it.

…….

As I started walking round the house, I felt that there was a spirit presence here. It was a woman, and she seemed troubled. As I walked, I noticed from the corner of my eye that Sophie was following me, and this wasn't just a curious girl wanting to chat and get in the way. She was silent and watchful. It was as if she was challenging me, and I found it unsettling.

When I got to the bedroom where the carpenter had been hanging the door, she came and stood in front of me. She didn’t say a thing. She just looked into my eyes, intently. It felt as if she and I were in this bubble. And the disconcerting thing was that I, Joe Cassidy, a known healer and diviner, was not in charge. Sophie was. If I had wanted to get out of her bubble of power, I don't think I would have been able to.

Sophie, an eight-year-old girl, had the stronger gift.

Sophie was telling me, by telepathy, about the woman spirit who was in the house. The nearest I can get to describing it is to say that it was like working with a horse or a dog, when you also use telepathy. She was standing there, and I knew she was reading my thoughts. She was in control. And she was saying to me, by telepathy, 'Do you see the woman that I see? Do you see what she looks like?'

And I was seeing the spirit. She was a strong presence. She was a large woman, with broad shoulders. She was wearing one of those overalls made out of material with a small flower pattern.

I was picking up that the woman had been in an abusive marriage. Her husband had been an alcoholic. He had been a street angel and a house devil.

I was getting a picture of this from the start, but it was much stronger when the girl was standing there, in front of me. When I pick up on things, it's like a vision. It's like a reel in my head. I see scenes of everyday life, and I can feel the emotions. I certainly felt that this woman had been in a very awkward relationship.