Reviews for ASHRAM NOTES

The average rating for ASHRAM NOTES based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-11-08 00:00:00 Max Vandament Derek Acorah is one of Britain's most famous psychic mediums and is well known as a result of his TV shows. This book is a must for anyone interested in parapsychology or the world of spirit. Acorah here traces his career as a clairvoyant and medium and the many contacts he has had with those in the spirit world. When Derek was a child he was frightened a man on the stairs of his home, and told his mother and grandmother who showed him a picture of his late grandfather who died before Derek was born. Derek identified the photograph as being that of the man he met on the stairs and his grandmother affirmed that "He's the next. Derek will be the next person in the family to work for the spirit" The author describes his 'people friendly' spiritualism' , and his work in spiritualist churches, as well as his famous TV shows such as 'Most Haunted', his connection with people who have passed to the spirit side and have wanted to communicate with the loved ones they have left behind. As Acorah explains nobody really dies, but simply passes from the physical ream to the world of sprit. In many cases people's lives have been changed for the better on advice of their departed loved ones when they have been summoned by Acorah and have told their living relatives what they needed to know. This makes for some very moving anecdotes. Acorah describes his relationships with his invaluable spirit guide, Sam, who he had known in a life two thousand years before in Ethiopia. Acorah describes his meetings with Jack the Ripper's victims, and his revelations of who The ripper may have been, definitely someone from a genteel background, and that there ware copycat murders at the time based on his actions. He decribes his encounters with King Charles I and Mary , queen of Scots, and others who had played parts in their lives such as the malignant Amyas Paulet, whose name was announced to Acorah by Sam, and other nasty spirits such as Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. Acorah predicted that Mary , queen of Scots would soon reappear on the ramparts of Tutbury Castle, which was confirmed by Lesley Smith, curator of the Castle a few months later. The spirit of Mary did return and was seen by a number of people. Acorah has described how the spirits enter the physical ream through a 'spiritual doorway' or vortex, and has had to close these vortex doorways from time to time to give peace to people being disturbed. Acorah has also helped many trapped spirits ascend to the light, from being trapped in the physical realm, such as the heart wrenching story of the spirit of twelve year old girl Derek came across at Auld Reekie Castle at Edinburgh , who had been cruelly treated by her master, and had succumbed to death from the plague. He helped her sad should to ascend to the realm of light. Fans of Coronation Street will be delighted to read who Derek spoke to the ghosts of Elsie Tanner, Ena Sharples and Annie Walker . But this digest is not only a book of anecdotes-it is also a valuable guide-Acorah Cora in the digest how: " The most difficult part of our lives here on this earthly plane is when the time comes for us to part physical company with people who have meant so much to us. At the time of their passing into the world of spirit, many of us are left feeling as though we are unable to come to terms with the fact that our loved one have passed on. In fact they have moved on physically but but they have not gone away from us, they have merely progressed into another realm-the spirit realm. They have shed their earthly garb but still remain with us, unseen to the physical eye". He also details how he has dealt with various poltergeists including a difficult one at Penny Lane. Definitely a fascinating read, and a definite must for anyone interested in the subject matter.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-10-10 00:00:00 Bruce Burt I know Derek Acorah from clips of his show, Most Haunted that used to appear on a TV show I used to enjoy, Harry Hill's TV Burp. I don't believe in ghosts or the afterlife, and I certainly don't believe mediums are genuine. That isn't to say I don't believe some medium's don't believe they are genuine, but that's not the same thing. The way I see it, a medium must surely be either a shyster or a crackpot. In spite of this, everyone knows someone who believes in the afterlife and spirits and possibly even someone who visits a medium for readings. My own mother claims to have seen spirits, communicated with them and even had premonitions. I can hardly doubt her now, can I? Nevertheless, I put that down to something psychological rather than to something spiritual. I'm not saying she's mad, either. It's clearly a fairly common thing, so there's no need to suggest it is representative of mental illness. Some people though decide to make a living out of being a medium. They do readings for people, visit sites and claim to be in contact with spirits, and even claim to have become possessed by them. Derek Acorah, as you may have guessed, is one of those. So what's his book like? Well, from the pleasant photo on the front cover, through the anecdotes concerning various haunted sites, and tales of receiving messages from the dead, doing readings for the bereaved, to being possessed by spirits, as you can imagine, Acorah presents himself in an endlessly positive light. He actually seems very likeable, even selfless - but not that credible. I actually wanted to like him, even at times allowing myself to be taken in by tales of instances in which he'd provided accurate information to his clients, thinking, these might even be genuine. By the end I was thinking, I hope he's a crackpot, because when the only other option is being a shyster, the crackpot is the lesser of two evils. At least in that instance he would be deluded and not cynically and cruelly exploiting peoples grief. The image portayed in the book though, is at odds with Acorah's on-screen image. I had to watch some videos of him on Youtube just to reacquaint myself with this creepy, abrasive, overbearing individual. Videos of him clearly making up all kinds of ridiculous bullshit and reveling in the attention he's receiving from audiences, tv presenters and tv crews, several of whom I can't actually believe are taking him seriously. Anyway, this isn't about the videos, it's about the book. What more can I say about that? Well, the first thing is that it is very vague. You would think Derek would have a lot to say about how it feels to be possessed - but, no. In one sense, he was a footballer before he was a medium, so I can understand if writing isn't his forte. This is so vague though, that at one point I said to Mrs Cake, if you can't write better than this, you shouldn't be allowed to write a book. I think that's something publishers should take note of. Nevertheless, as I've said before, you might think footballers can give you some deep insight into their abilities, but I've concluded after reading a few of their books that they just can't. It comes natural to them and they never question where it comes from. So it could be the same with a medium. I still think Acorah should be able to provide more detail, both about his abilities and about the anecdotes and situations he is relating. Some of the things included here are simply preposterous. First he claims to visit a spiritual church where legendary Liverpool FC manager Bill Shankly appears and communicates with him. Later he keeps experiencing Mary Queen of Scots and confidently informs us that she "traveled extensively and although the residual energy of her occupation of various buildings will always remain, her spirit body can only be in one place at any particular time." Presumably his spirit guide Sam clued him in on that particular factoid. Then he visits the set of Coronation Street and it starts to read like a parody article from Viz as Acorah keeps running into spirits and saying, "it was none other than Ena Sharples!" Apparently the dead cast members were upset about the way the current cast was being treated by the producers. This might not be ridiculous if you believe in this kind of thing - and I ain't saying nothing, but the kind of person who believes in mediums would seem to me to be the kind of person who might also be into Coronation Street - this reeks of pure fantasy. Later Derek predicts the end of Gerard Houllier's reign as manager of Liverpool FC, and gives us a future prediction that we can use to verify or debunk Acorah's work. He says the new manager will be from a team known for wearing stripes. And this is where mediums always get you. You see, Rafa Benitez followed Gerard Houllier, and he made his name at Valencia. They don't wear stripes - but... there are some stripes in the club badge - oooooh! Among other teams he managed were Extremadura and Real Valladolid, both of whom may have worn stripes, but when you think about it, every professional player or manager in the world is likely to have some connection with a team that wore stripes - with a few notable exceptions of course - but 7 out of the 20 Premier League clubs currently wear stripes, so when you consider how many clubs a professional would tend to have links with, this isn't much of a prediction. Is Derek Acorah a crackpot then? Well, it's worse than that. I think he's both a crackpot and a shyster.