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Embracing the Spirits: True Stories of My Encounters With the Other Side
Traumatized by a poltergeist as a young adult, Barbara Parks never imagined she would overcome her fear of the spirit world. This collection of true ghost stories relates her dramatic, heartwarming journey toward embracing her gift for spirit communication.
Barbara uses pendulums, table-tipping, and her own homemade Ouija table to speak with spirits in old taverns, hotels, schoolhouses, theaters, and her own home. Some spirits need her help in reuniting with loved ones or delivering a special message. Barbara also offers comfort to suicide and murder victims, crosses over troubled spirits, calms an angry poltergeist who can manifest and hurl stones, and captures spirit energy in photographs. These real-life paranormal encounters illuminate the mysterious spirit world--and the fascinating life of a medium.
Barbara uses pendulums, table-tipping, and her own homemade Ouija table to speak with spirits in old taverns, hotels, schoolhouses, theaters, and her own home. Some spirits need her help in reuniting with loved ones or delivering a special message. Barbara also offers comfort to suicide and murder victims, crosses over troubled spirits, calms an angry poltergeist who can manifest and hurl stones, and captures spirit energy in photographs. These real-life paranormal encounters illuminate the mysterious spirit world--and the fascinating life of a medium.
- GenresSpirituality
264 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2013
1 person is currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Parks
4 books11 followersBarbara Parks is a microbiologist and podiatrist; working in her own private practice for the last twenty years. Her paranormal experiences have often been at odds with her scientific background and it has been a circuitous journey towards the acceptance of her abilities.
Barbara's clairvoyance showed itself early in life and constitutes some of her earliest memories. She recalls countless faces which would gather at her bedside, a nightly ritual she found to be a comforting aspect of her day to day life. As time went on however, the ghostly manifestations became progressively more sinister. Innocent acceptance soon gave way to unadulterated fear.
In the Presence of Spirits documents Barbara's journey toward the embracing of her clairvoyance, and the ways in which it has enhanced her life. Although her early recollections bear all the hallmarks of a Hollywood horror movie, her story emerges as one of inspiration and insight.
Although Barbara continues to run her podiatry practice in the Perth Hills, her passions lie in investigating and writing about the paranormal. She is also a capable guest speaker and thrives on having an audience with which to share her passion! She is a married mother of three young children, all of whom have shown signs of inheriting their mother's sixth sense.
Barbara has recently completed her follow up to In the Presence of Spirits, which is due for publication on September 8th , 2013.
Barbara's clairvoyance showed itself early in life and constitutes some of her earliest memories. She recalls countless faces which would gather at her bedside, a nightly ritual she found to be a comforting aspect of her day to day life. As time went on however, the ghostly manifestations became progressively more sinister. Innocent acceptance soon gave way to unadulterated fear.
In the Presence of Spirits documents Barbara's journey toward the embracing of her clairvoyance, and the ways in which it has enhanced her life. Although her early recollections bear all the hallmarks of a Hollywood horror movie, her story emerges as one of inspiration and insight.
Although Barbara continues to run her podiatry practice in the Perth Hills, her passions lie in investigating and writing about the paranormal. She is also a capable guest speaker and thrives on having an audience with which to share her passion! She is a married mother of three young children, all of whom have shown signs of inheriting their mother's sixth sense.
Barbara has recently completed her follow up to In the Presence of Spirits, which is due for publication on September 8th , 2013.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 5, 2013
An absolutely fascinating read. Barbara Parks's compassion and humanity is palpable throughout.
October 8, 2013
Book review originally published here: http://www.iheartreading.net/reviews/...
Embracing The Spirits is the second book I’ve read by Barbara Parks about her encounters with spirits, poltergeists and the supernatural. While I enjoyed In The Presence of Spirits, her first book, I was not as impressed with this second book. I feel like she lost track here, and instead of telling a coherent story, she handles case by case, but never providing us with much detail, or with an ending. The chapters are extremely short, and by the time we get to know the setting, the spirit in question, and what is going on, the author has already moved on to another chapter.
Barbara’s methods are also questionable at best. She uses ouija boards, which can be very dangerous, especially for mediums. When she tells us about her table-tipping adventures, I either grew convinced she herself is being haunted by a poltergeist of some sort, or these stories were invented, or at least dramatized. Table-tipping can happen, but hardly as often as she makes it appear, and certainly not with every reading. If this does happen, then either some kind of spirit has attached itself to her, or something strange is going on. Either way, if these events are true, they give reason for caution, and I’d urge the author not to do anymore table-tipping sessions for a while.
I didn’t enjoy this book, mostly because by the time I was fully interested in a spirit and their story, we’d already moved on to something else. Pages pass without anything happening, except the occassional telling about how the author practices to enhance her gift. The book was a bit dull because of that, and I wish she’d stick with the premise of her first book, and focus on one case mostly. That probably would’ve made the readers more involved in the story.
Embracing The Spirits is the second book I’ve read by Barbara Parks about her encounters with spirits, poltergeists and the supernatural. While I enjoyed In The Presence of Spirits, her first book, I was not as impressed with this second book. I feel like she lost track here, and instead of telling a coherent story, she handles case by case, but never providing us with much detail, or with an ending. The chapters are extremely short, and by the time we get to know the setting, the spirit in question, and what is going on, the author has already moved on to another chapter.
Barbara’s methods are also questionable at best. She uses ouija boards, which can be very dangerous, especially for mediums. When she tells us about her table-tipping adventures, I either grew convinced she herself is being haunted by a poltergeist of some sort, or these stories were invented, or at least dramatized. Table-tipping can happen, but hardly as often as she makes it appear, and certainly not with every reading. If this does happen, then either some kind of spirit has attached itself to her, or something strange is going on. Either way, if these events are true, they give reason for caution, and I’d urge the author not to do anymore table-tipping sessions for a while.
I didn’t enjoy this book, mostly because by the time I was fully interested in a spirit and their story, we’d already moved on to something else. Pages pass without anything happening, except the occassional telling about how the author practices to enhance her gift. The book was a bit dull because of that, and I wish she’d stick with the premise of her first book, and focus on one case mostly. That probably would’ve made the readers more involved in the story.
January 21, 2014
I received this book through Netgalley.com. Thank you to Netgalley.com, to Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., and to Barbara Parks. I'm not sure what took me so long to read this as the paranormal is one of my favorite topics to explore. So, I am grateful for the opportunity.
I enjoyed reading about all of the spiritual encounters of Barbara Parks. However, she puts a lot of energy into describing how wonderful and glorious and beautiful everything was about the spirits. This applied to both their character and their physical appearance, be it an orb or an apparition. In spite of her positive energy, I get the distinct feeling that the author is terrified that something sinister lurks just around the corner. Is she waiting for the day that terror steps into her life like a Hollywood movie? Perhaps I need to read her first book about her poltergeist encounters to find out. There was just a major undertone of unspoken fear in almost every part of this book (in my opinion). It also seemed like everyone the author met had experiences with spirits, were clairvoyant, etc. AND they became her dearest friends. This author has more beloved friends after 10 minutes of conversation than I would have imagined possible.
I do believe that Barbara Parks has had unique experiences and her stories are told in a genuine manner. She piqued my curiosity about the spirit world in a positive way. I recommend this to anyone who is curious about spiritual encounters. 3.5 Stars.
I enjoyed reading about all of the spiritual encounters of Barbara Parks. However, she puts a lot of energy into describing how wonderful and glorious and beautiful everything was about the spirits. This applied to both their character and their physical appearance, be it an orb or an apparition. In spite of her positive energy, I get the distinct feeling that the author is terrified that something sinister lurks just around the corner. Is she waiting for the day that terror steps into her life like a Hollywood movie? Perhaps I need to read her first book about her poltergeist encounters to find out. There was just a major undertone of unspoken fear in almost every part of this book (in my opinion). It also seemed like everyone the author met had experiences with spirits, were clairvoyant, etc. AND they became her dearest friends. This author has more beloved friends after 10 minutes of conversation than I would have imagined possible.
I do believe that Barbara Parks has had unique experiences and her stories are told in a genuine manner. She piqued my curiosity about the spirit world in a positive way. I recommend this to anyone who is curious about spiritual encounters. 3.5 Stars.
March 11, 2014
Well I'm not a sceptic but I do wonder what happened to the transparent human form that used to be the way to see and describe ghosts. I suppose it's not in vogue anymore and spirits as opposed to ghosts are moving with the times by appearing as small orbs and can play light games. That should be perfect round orbs, that can throb. As it turns out all manifestations of séances are real including the ouji boards, but you have to use them at your own risk. Names were changed in this book to protect others and you do have to take it at face value that the stories are real and the photographs haven't been manipulated. It makes for a light read and there were incidents mentioned in this book that weren't resolved. I'll leave that to future readers to find out which ones those were, the author may be saving those resolutions for her next book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews