The Christmas Ghost

We are all very familiar with the ghosts of Christmas that Charles Dickens introduced to us in his classic story, "A Christmas Carol." In the Dickens story, only Marley's ghost and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come were foreboding, frightening spirits - ghosts of the type that Kathy Moll experienced during the 1999 Christmas season. Kathy and her sister Nanci and Nanci's husband Darryl were enjoying a pre-Christmas holiday at The Lauren Danielle bed and breakfast in Guthrie, Oklahoma when she encountered her own Ghost of Christmas Present. This is her true story:

I sensed something about the house when I first entered. The Lauren Danielle is a beautiful Victorian home with a colorful history. Built in 1890, the house was the home of Territorial Governor Renfro, Charles West, first State Attorney General, and later Chris Madsen, US Marshall, who used the basement as a jail (in fact, the iron bars are still intact on the windows). Listed in the National Register of Historic Homes, the wonderfully restored house is today a popular bed and breakfast in central Oklahoma, just north of Oklahoma City. On this occasion, innkeepers Cliff and Debi Judd had lavishly but tastefully decorated the home for Christmas.

But I was sensing more than the holiday spirit at The Lauren Danielle. Bear in mind that I already knew that there was a spirit cat in the house, due to the newspaper article my sister Nanci shared with me before our arriving. Debi Judd showed us around the home, beautifully appointed in period antiques. She let us take our pick of rooms. When I was offered the room downstairs near the stairs, I went to look at it. I could not even enter the room, however - the vibrations were very strong and territorial. I just stood at the door and looked in. Anyone else who did not have sensitivity to these types of vibrations would have seen a lovely room done up in golds and browns. I knew I did not want to be in there by myself. In fact, the only room I felt somewhat okay about was the room my sister eventually chose. So I took the adjoining room, which was pretty, but had a very heavy feeling to it.

The Black Entity and Lady in Yellow

After we had afternoon tea, I asked Debi about the spirit cat. This lead to a discussion about the different entities in the house. That conversation explained my feelings better. My sister Nanci did not want to hear what these entities were, but I asked Debi to tell me more. There was a male entity, she said. On one occasion she had seen him in the living room, dressed in black. She had thought her husband was standing behind her. She turned and looked right at this spirit. It then moved from behind her chair to the basement stairs and disappeared. She could only see the spirit from the knees up. (I have heard that spirits sometimes cannot manifest their full form due to the energy it requires.) Debi told us it was not a particularly good feeling that she got from this entity. Another spirit she saw was a woman dressed in a yellow ball gown. She also told us that people had fled their B&B in their pajamas from being so frightened.

I was a little unnerved when I went to my room (the Lord Sebastian Room - named after the family cat) to relax and get ready to go out for a play that Nanci, Darryl and I were going to attend that evening. A local theatre group was presenting a production of "A Christmas Carol," but set in the Western 1800s. I could not help the feeling that I was being watched while I dressed for the evening. The feeling was in the bathroom as well as the room itself. It was not a particularly threatening presence, but a very strong one nevertheless.

As I dressed and did my hair and makeup, I knew something was definitely with me. I finally finished and decided to lie down on the fainting couch for a few minutes and meditate. That helped a little bit, but I knew I was not alone. The feeling I had was of a jealous or envious projection, as if the entity longed for the corporeal body still.

We had a lovely dinner prepared by Debi and then went to the Territorial Christmas play. My sense of relief upon leaving the house was perceptible. My sensitivity is such that I have a hard time being around certain entities without it affecting me greatly. Perhaps if I were more skilled at handling the situations, they would not bother me as much. I certainly have had enough experience since I was a child.

But even they did not prepare me for the terrifying night I was about to have.

Restless Night

We returned to the house rather late, about 11:00 p.m. Nanci and I said goodnight, and I stayed downstairs to eat a piece of apple pie and relax. Frankly, I was not eager to go upstairs to bed. I had asked Nanci to leave the door between our rooms unlocked. She could not unlock it, however, and came to tell me. I went upstairs to do it myself. I thought I would sleep better knowing I could reach her if need be.

I got ready for bed, and left the light on by the fainting couch. I tried to read awhile, but the light was not good and I could not concentrate on the book anyway. There was a train that came through town about every hour, and I was having a hard time falling asleep. Let me state for those readers who are wondering, we did not have any alcohol or any other substances that may account for what was about to happen.

I was propped up in bed, drifting in and out, when the train came through town blaring its horn, waking me thoroughly. I decided to just stay awake and lay in the bed listening to it. I assure the reader, I was not asleep or in a dream state. It was 2:30 a.m.; I remember checking my watch.

The Attack

Suddenly, a ball of tremendous psychic force gathered at the end of room by the fainting couch and literally slung itself at me, like a comet. I remember saying, "Oh no!" a second before it hit me and then feeling paralyzed, unable to speak, unable to move. The feeling was like when you go down a roller coaster, but a hundred times stronger. There was also a palpable electrical feeling going through me. I felt that the entity was trying to go inside me, and I fought it mentally. I tried to say "NO" aloud, but it only came out as a distorted moaning. (My sister told me later that she could hear me moaning.) Then I gathered every bit of mental, spiritual and emotional energy and shouted out "NO!" - and the presence retreated.

I lay there, extremely exhausted and shook-up. There is a sense when these types of things happen, of: "Did that really just happen?" Yet I know that it did. I cried out my sister's name and she responded sleepily from the room next door.

I asked her to come to my room, and she did immediately, asking me if I was okay. I said no and told her what had just happened. She told me that she had heard me moaning and then yelling "NO!" When she asked if I wanted to sleep with her, of course my response was yes. My insides were shaking and I knew that the entity had merely withdrawn, not left. Even now as I write this, my eyes water and my insides are shaky. My jaw feels the way it does before you yawn, and the back of my neck is tingling.

I crawled into Nanci's and Darryl's bed, she sleeping in the middle and Darryl on the other side; I was on the side nearest the door to my room. Nanci held my hand, bless her heart, for awhile. Yet I could feel a presence in the corner of the room, near the adjoining doors.

The Spirits and Nanci's Dream

When we finally woke up that morning, about 6:30 a.m., Darryl was getting ready to go for a walk. After he left, Nanci and I discussed again what had happened. She told me she had had a dream (I feel it was her "paraconscious") of the house's spirit cat at the end of the bed purring. A little boy was standing by the bed, and another little boy was at the end of the bed kneeling toward her. She remembers cupping his face in her hands. She also remembers a presence in the shadows near the adjoining door to my room - possibly the same on I had sensed.

This was an exhausting experience. I did not want to ruin the beautiful Sunday brunch Debi fixed us by telling her at that time what had happened. At the same time, I was not sure I was ready to tell her. I told a few friends I work with what happened - an experience that in itself was actually draining.
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