True Ghost Stories: Cleanliness is next to Ghostliness

Two True Ghost Stories

For this year’s True Spooks: Share Your True Ghost Story blog carnival, I’m going to share a couple strange experiences I’ve had, experiences that I can’t quite explain away. Both of them have to do with money appearing out of nowhere.

I wish I could say pots of gold magically appeared on my doorstep, but that’s not the case. While that’s probably what would happen in a movie; in real life, odd experiences tend to be much more subtle.

Tale Number One: Cleanliness is Next to Ghostliness

A couple years ago, I rented a room in a cute, mid-century house in a charming, wooded neighborhood up in Olympia, Washington. It was a cozy place, and while I never felt anything menacing, from time to time, I would feel, well, watched.

More specifically, whenever I would dust, sweep, fold laundry or otherwise engage in housecleaning, I would get the distinct feeling that someone was watching me. As you may have guessed, this being a ghost story and all, I would never see anyone when I looked around. Even so, it was quite a strong sensation.

To top it off, at some point during every housecleaning session, I would find a dime in the very places I had just cleaned. After putting away the vacuum, for instance, I’d turn around and find a bright dime glinting at me from the middle of the rug.

The first couple of times, I suspected that I had simply overlooked the coins, but after a while, I began to expect these mystery dimes to show up, and would even say, “Thank you,” out loud after each new discovery. It was always dimes, too, never other coins.

The clincher was the time, when after thoroughly scrubbing the bathroom, I heard a tiny “clink” as I knelt down to put away the sponge and cleanser in the cabinet below the sink. I stood up immediately, and sure enough, there was a shiny little dime perched on the sink’s drain plug!

Now, I had been scrubbing and rinsing and had filled and drained that sink a few times while cleaning the bathroom. If that dime had been there all along (as some folks might suggest) it would have needed some serious super glue to keep it in place with all that water sloshing around.

What do you think? Have you ever had money appear seemingly out of nowhere?

Tale Number Two: Penny Charming in Texas

For tale number two, let’s fast forward to my move to Texas. One day, or more likely, one night during a bout of insomnia, I found Slade Roberson’s blog, Shift Your Spirits. Slade is a down-to-earth intuitive who writes about all things psychic in an engaging, down-to-earth manner.

When I came across his post on Penny Charming, it sounded fun, so I decided to give it a try. As Slade explains:

The basic gist of a penny charm is that, before you move any of your belongings into the home, you greet the spirits who dwell there, you introduce yourself, explain who you are, how you intend to share the space, how you wish to interact with them, ask for their blessing, and invite them to provide security for you and yours.

Even though I had been living here for well over a year, I decided to do a Penny Charming anyway. As I walked from room to room, I spoke aloud to anyone or anything who might be listening. I thanked them for sharing the house with me, and asked them to leave a coin for me to find if they could hear me and didn’t mind having me as a roommate. According to Slade’s article:

If the spirits accept you as a new member of the family and agree to let you reside in their house, they will leave a coin (or coins) on the floor. The coin — usually a penny — will appear close to a door or window (sometimes, it may appear on the actual window sill).

In my case, after making my Penny Charming request, I cruised back through the house looking for stray coins – and found nothing. I then fed the goldfish (we have a small indoor pond) before heading upstairs for a shower. When I returned downstairs, I saw something shiny awaiting me – a bright nickel on the ledge of our goldfish pond.

Having just fed the fish, I knew the ledge was completely empty prior to my shower, so I was thrilled! “Thanks for this beautiful coin!” I said aloud, grateful that I didn’t come downstairs to find the words, “Get out!” scrawled on the wall in dripping red paint, as might occur if my life were a Stephen King novel. Instead I felt enveloped by a welcoming feeling as I completed the Penny Charming by climbing up on a chair and tucking the coin above the frame of the nearest door.

What do you think?

Have you ever tried a Penny Charming, or had coins mysteriously appear? Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below. Also, if you are a fan of true ghost stories, stay tuned for this year’s True Spooks: Share Your True Ghost Story blog carnival. It goes online this Monday, October 17th, and is chock full of fabulous ghost stories!