BOOK REVIEW
"True Hauntings: Spirits with a Purpose",
by Hazel M. Denning.
Pub. by Llewelyn Publications, $12.95 U.S.,
ISBN# 1-56718-218-6
By the author of "Intuition and Synchronicity: A Journey to Fulfillment" and "Life Without Guilt: Healing Through Past Life Regression", this book offers a unique perspective on hauntings, from a professional "ghost hunter" and psychic.
Have you ever wondered about the interactions between multiple spirits haunting the same location? We all know that some spirits are "earthbound" due to unresolved issues stemming from traumatic life events, but what about those hauntings by spirits whose lives were placid and unremarkable? What holds them to this plane? What about visitations from relatives or friends who one would expect to advance in their spiritual progress after death, why do they sometimes return? Isn't there a Summerland or heaven or something out there that they should be a part of? Ms. Denning offers her comments and conclusions on these and a number of other issues related to contact with those who have (or should have) "crossed over" based on years of practical experience.
Ms. Denning organizes the book's chapters around concrete examples from her work experience, which I find very useful. She also arranges the book (more or less) from the beginning of her career onward, which enables the reader to follow along with her as she explores the other realm and gives us the opportunity to see why she came to the conclusions she did on the nature of ghosts and haunting. I really enjoyed the sense of journeying with her; looking at the cases she was involved in, and growing in understanding reading about how she dealt with different situations.
Especially interesting to me was how the living influence the hauntings with their preconceptions, attitudes, and secrets of their own. This went a long way toward explaining why a particular home will be fiercely haunted while occupied by one family, then the hauntings will cease altogether when they move on. It also provided useful information to the lay seeker about what to do in cases of contact with the deceased, so that the interaction can be positive for both the living and the dead. If you have ever had an experience with someone on the other side and didn't quite know what to do, the varied examples of different contact situations the author's response to them can form the basis for more meaningful interactions in the future. The possibilities for healing are tremendously exciting.
Unlike many psychic investigators, Ms. Denning is not overly credulous, and is comfortable letting you know when her knowledge is incomplete or she just doesn't know. If you read much on this topic, you'll appreciate how rare that is.
Review by Stephanie N. Canada, yewgrovecuups@austinuu.org. Copyright retained by the author for any other use beyond online publication of this issue of “The Accord”. Please contact the author for prior permission for any other use in any medium.