By KEN KORCZAK
After reading and reviewing the late Violet Tweedale’s 1919 book, Ghosts I Have Seen, I met & conversed with the deceased author “in person” in the lucid dream realm.
I also photographed her.
Violet Tweedale died in 1936, but no one truly “dies.” As I discovered, the Scottish poet, writer and spiritualist is still very much alive and vibrantly active in the Afterlife.
I connected with Tweedale by leveraging my 40 years of lucid dream practice. She and I shared a stimulating conversation on the nature of reality and other topics. In this article, I will also present a photograph I captured of Tweedale floating in an orb in my backyard here in northern Minnesota.
But first, let me tell you how this all got started.
One of my favorite activities is to scour the internet for old, forgotten books on paranormal topics. Searching the free e-book site, Project Gutenberg, I happened upon Tweedale’s Ghosts I Have Seem & Other Psychic Experiences. I read the book with fascination. What follows is the review I originally published.
After my review, which you can either read, skim or skip, I will tell you about my subsequent contact and interactions with Violet Tweedale in her Afterlife setting. I will also tell you how I managed to capture a photograph of her in an orb.
VICTORIAN-ERA ARISTOCRAT PENS BOOK ABOUT HER GHOST HUNTING ADVENTURES
Ghost hunting clubs and paranormal investigation have become a mega-popular trend in the past decade. Local folks everywhere are starting up clubs and teams, dedicated to seeking out proof that the dead still live on another plane.
The first order of business for these types is printing up some cool t-shirts with a neato logo. Then you need some cool hats also with logo. Oh, and you must have a website and a Facebook fan page. Also required is the latest electronic gear: full-spectrum cameras, shadow detection devices, gizmos that show changes in local magnetic fields, detectors that can ferret out anomalous cold spots, and subhuman-sensitive-frequency audio recorders…
Yes, what is old is new again! Today’s paranormal investigation teams would do well to read Violet Tweedale’s, Ghosts I Have Seen. You can download it for free as an e-book from Project Gutenberg
Tweedale is the late 19th Century and early 20th-century version of the modern ghost hunter. She didn’t have access to all the slick electronic toys – when she started, she didn’t even have electricity! Tweedale and her fellows relied on mediums and the “psychic attunement” of their minds and belief systems.
Published in 1920, Ghosts I Have Seen claims that paranormal sightings are something that none of today’s ghost enthusiasts can come close to matching, even with the arsenal of high-tech tools at their disposal.
Tweedale tells of dozens of confrontations with bona fide ghosts encountered in the flesh – and I mean in the flesh. She related a plethora of stories of seeing dead people who look every bit as real and solid as any living person. But that’s only for starters. Tweedale also reports on her (or others) encounters with:
* Elementals
* Familiars
* Haunted houses
* Possessed mediums
* Evil spirits
* Mythical creatures, such as satyrs
* Demonic presences
… And much more.
AN UPPER CRUST ARISTOCRAT
Tweedale was a Scottish Blue Blood of top order. She traveled among the lofty upper crust of British royalty. Her book is replete with references to lords and ladies, baron, baronesses, counts and countesses and her relationships with them.
She was first and foremost a Scott. Her father was Robert Chambers, the publisher of Chamber’s Journal, a powerhouse publisher based in Edinburgh. This in turn allowed her to consort with some of the most illustrious literati of all time, including the likes of poet Robert Browning and artists Frederic Leighton and John Everett Millais. She was also an associate of the famous Madam Blavatsky, founder of Theosophy.
The question is: How believable are her stories? They’re sensational, certainly. Was Tweedale a bored pseudo-intellectual society heiress showing off her useless education to fill the endless days of tedium among the wealthy elite – the teas, the gala balls, the society functions, attending to the affairs of her enormous castle-like dwellings? Or did her wealth allow her the freedom to probe deeper into the world of mysticism and esoteric in a way that was meaningful and legitimate?
It may be a bit of both. My impression in reading Ghosts I Have Seen is that Tweedale indeed was witness to many bizarre phenomena. After all, her normal stomping grounds were the ancient, stony, monstrous castles of northern Scotland.
Imagine how picturesque! Centuries-old drafty, dreary structures with real dungeons where thousands of poor souls were tortured or murdered in dark holes – locations where the political machinations of the Scottish clans played out their blood revenge and plots against their fellow royal elites, Scot, Celt and Saxon alike.
It must be said that Tweedale, despite her wealth and position, was by all accounts a hard-working novelist and writer. She produced more than 30 books. She was also a political activist, philanthropist and frequently got her hands dirty by working in the trenches with the lowest strata of society.
In one segment, she speaks of sitting with a prostitute while the woman was slowly dying in a poor house bed — a depressing facility where Tweedale worked as a volunteer to aid those on the bottom rung. It would seem that Violet Tweedale was a woman of intelligence and constitution. I believe these examples show strong character, and it adds credibility to her personal testimonial of encountering ghosts.
All in all, this is an interesting enough read. It often rambles and should have had at least 50 pages edited out. However, it’s interesting to observe how ghost hunting today and ghost hunting 100 years ago are more or less the same – if anything, today’s high-tech paranormal investigators seem behind the curve vis-a-vis the likes of Violate Tweedale.
HOW I CAME TO MEET VIOLET TWEEDALE
Violet Tweedale died in 1936 — but that’s not the way she sees it.
Through a series of complicated circumstances, I recently found myself in contact with this remarkable deceased Scottish aristocrat. Since then, I have been able to transcribe several conversations with Violet from her perch in what I’ll call the Afterlife (for lack of a better term.)
It was through her book Ghosts I have Seen that I first entered the orbit of this remarkable woman. As I said above, I read published a review of her book. Little did I know, Violet took notice of my review, even though she had left physical reality behind more than 80 years ago.
Another thing I must explain about by subsequent meeting of Violet Tweedale is the…
LUCID DREAM CONNECTION
As it happens, I also have been a practitioner of the art of lucid dreaming for about 40 years. During these decades, I have experienced countless dream adventures. Along the way, I discovered a certain location located in the dream world that I have come to call “The Restaurant on the Edge of Time.”
I’ve now often call it “The RET” for short.
I would encourage readers to stop now and click over to my description of The RET where I describe my first encounter in visiting this amazing place.
Click here: THE RESTAURANT ON THE EDGE OF TIME
Over the years, I have since come to the conviction that my journeys to The RET are more than a repeating dream scenario. Rather, I am now convinced that The RET is a kind of “consensus reality.” Is it a place for communal gathering in:
· The astral plane?
· A dreamscape?
· An alternate dimension?
· A parallel universe?
· A thought universe?
· Hyperspace?
I don’t know. Frankly, I’m not overly concerned about the nature of The RET environment. What I can say for sure is that it is there — and I can go there. Better yet, The RET is a communal meeting place where all kinds of people, entities and “strange beings” can visit and interact.
It was on one of my visits to The RET that I encountered Violet Tweedale. It was just a few days after I published my review of her book. To make a long story short, after successfully inducing a lucid dream, I soon found myself sitting at one of The RET’s marvelous blackened, oakwood tables. I was drinking a pungent, powerful grog from an ornately carved flagon.
Presently, I noticed an elegant woman of graceful beauty, appearing perhaps 50 to 60 years of age. She looked in my direction and saunter over to my table.
She wore a marvelous flowing magenta-ivory frock crafted from a luxurious fabric — an outfit of sumptuous and elegant design. I’m sure the tailoring concept was of Etruscan influence. (Note: I’m a fan of Etruscan fresco art).
Her every movement was graceful. It’s uncanny and difficult to describe … it was the way she held her elbows, gestured with her hands and tilted her head. All seemed choreographed by a natural divinity.
I felt an instant sense of recognition. “I know that I know her,” I thought while scouring my mind for a name. She quickly put me at ease, however, by promptly introducing herself as Violet Tweedale.
Amazingly, she knew who I was. She said:
“Hello, Kenneth, I’m Violet Tweedale.”
I was stunned!
That was it! I now recognized her from the scant number of pictures I could find of Violet on the internet — I had previously searched them out to post along with my review of her book. To make a long story short, I invited Violet to sit with me and we engaged in a short conversation. The gist of it was only that she wished to thank me for the review of her book.
(Note: Over the years and in many visits to The RET, I have encountered a deceased person of historical significance before. Thus, the situation was not entirely novel, but it’s still always astounding to “run into” such a figure in the dream world.)
I had a million questions for her, but Violet politely begged off, only saying she “had to run,” but that we would have ample opportunity to converse in the future. I assumed that I would be meeting with Violet again in the dreamscape by and by.
After I awoke from this lucid dream, my memory of my meeting with Violet remained crystal clear. I was incredibly delighted to have met with what I truly believe was the genuine Afterlife personality of Mrs. Tweedale. Little did I know, a gigantic surprise was yet to come. My next encounter with Violet was completely unexpected and came in a way that: Blew! My! Mind!
A few days after meeting Violet in the dream world, I captured a photographic image of Violet Tweedale in my backyard on a warm autumn evening in 2020. Bear with me, now, and I will explain how this is possible.
MY NEW HOBBY — ORB PHOTOGRAPHY
In the spring of 2020, I watched an episode of “White House UFO” on YouTube. This is a long-running program presented by veteran UFO investigator Grant Cameron of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Cameron has been investigating UFOs since 1975. His YouTube channel, however, covers a wide range of paranormal topics, albeit most of them with a UFO tangent. One such recurring topic is orb photography and discussion. Cameron regularly assembled a panel of folks who are deeply involved in capturing images of orbs which they share and discuss on the program.
After watching Cameron’s orb panel one evening, I decided to step put in my backyard and try a “few shots in the dark.” Expecting nothing, the very first picture I took showed a big fat orb almost dead center. In the center of the orb was an unmistakable figure 8.
I was instantly intrigued, but my “inner hardcore skeptic” immediately came up with a half-dozen explanations for the unmistakable “8” — a camera anomaly, an artifact of the internal structure of the camera, just a chance shadow, etc. — but it was enough to motivate me to go out and take more photos.
The scope, range and novelty of my orb images quickly evolved. For example, I began to capture plasma-like formations, and sometimes these appear to have “faces” attached to or associated with them:
Sometimes orb will show you a picture of a beloved pet who has since transitioned away from the physical. In the orb below, it appears that my transitioned dog paid me a visit:
But your pet does not have to be deceased to appear in an orb. The orbs have a quirky sense of humor. On more than one occasion, they have brought me an image of one of my currently living cats, as you see in the picture below:
And sometimes, if you write a review of a book written by a deceased author and later meet that author in the dream world, that person may show up to you in an orb, as was the case with Violet Tweedale:
Here is a closer look using another picture of Violet Tweedale. Notice that in the above and the photo below Violet is seen in left profile. In other words, we see the left side of her face. She is looking to the left in this orb photo:
Note: If you stand away from your screen about four or five feet, Violet’s features may become clearer to you.
OUIJA CONTACT AND AUTOMATIC WRITING
Okay, so the orb photos I have used to support my case for what I believe to be authentic contact with Violet Tweedale are just a few of thousands of remarkable orb images I have captured over the past two years. However, now I must explain the last link in the chain of events. That starts with my lifelong hobby of using a Ouija board.
In short, I have been using the Ouija board since 1968, starting with noodling around with this “esoteric implement” as an eight-year-old along with my brothers and sister. Over decades of consistent Ouija practice, I have managed to achieve I high degree of proficiency in channeling an extremely wide range of entities, from the spirits of the deceased to multi-dimensional personalities and aliens.
Yiu can read a chapter of my forthcoming Ouija book here: OUIJA CHAPTER
Like most people who practice the Ouija board, it leads naturally to developing the skill of automatic writing.
I won’t undertake a lengthy explanation of the automatic writing process here and only say it works on the same principle of Ouija channeling, except you just use a pen and paper to write down the communication you receive from “exotic sources.”
Thus, I came to have conversations with Violet Tweedale through a combination of book reviewing, lucid dreaming, orb photography, Ouija board channeling and automatic writing.
I told you it was complicated!
SO — WHAT DID VIOLET HAVE TO SAY?
So, at last, we get to that juncture where I can start presenting the transcripts of my after-death conversations with Violet Tweedale. As you can imagine, I was enthusiastic to ask Violet about orbs. For example, how is it that deceased people (or my deceased pets) can present their images to me in orbs.
I am keen to find out just how the “mechanics” of the orb phenomena work.
Before I get to the subject of orbs, I think it best to present the first part of my conversation with Violet to orient the reader in some basic issues. So, here is the first part of my discussion with Violet Tweedale:
Ken: Hi Violet. It’s a pleasure to speak to you from your perch in what we consider the “Afterlife” from our standpoint here in physical reality. I won’t be referring to you as “dead” since, obviously, you would not consider yourself to be dead, right?
Violet: Yes, that’s right, Kenneth. I should think it goes without saying.
Ken: I suppose so. But would you go as far as to say that you are physically dead?
Violet: No, that’s absolutely the wrong way to look at things.
Ken: But your physical body ceased to function in this physical reality in the year 1936, did it not?
Violet: Even if I would say “yes” to that, such a statement would be all but meaningless.
Ken: Can you elaborate?
Violet: The physical body I possess still exists in time, so to speak. It’s solid and real. It continues its place in time and physical reality where it belongs.
Ken: Okay, but …well … do you continue to associate your identity with that physical body?
Violet: Yes, why not? It’s part of the greater whole of who I am. Ask yourself: Do you still associate with the physical child that you were when you were, say, 10 years old? Where is that 10-year-old physical body right now? It supposedly does not exist anymore, yet you still exist now, and that 10-year-old was clearly you, wouldn’t you agree? You still associate with your “dead and gone” 10-year-old body in some respect if only in the delusion you call memory. Note that I said your 10-year-old body “supposedly” does not exist. Of course, it still does exist in its time and place.
Ken: I think I understand what you’re getting at. As you know, every cell in the physical body is in a constant state of being created, functioning and doing its part and then dying off, only to be replaced by a new cell that takes over and, in that way, keeps the body going.
Thus, in a sense, the body I had when I was 10 is “dead now,” but has been replaced by all-new material. However, I guess I would say my “awareness” has always sort of ridden along with the rise and fall of the biological material of my body.
Violet: Well, then, I think you understand certain things, Kenneth.
Ken: Thank you, Violet. But still, the biological “wave” (my physical body) is still rising and falling, so to speak, and remains in a dynamic state of function on this physical plane. This provides a vessel for my awareness — while your biological wave, so to speak, has ceased its function here on my physical plane.
Many would say that makes you “dead” and me “alive.” What do you say?
Violet: That’s not true. You only have the illusion of being removed from me in time, but my physical body is still there where it was or is, so to speak.
Ken: Okay, I’ll tell you the way I envision this, and you can tell me if it’s accurate. I would compare your physical body to a computer file that has been “saved.” Computer files have specific parameters. They are discrete packets of information. They have their own internal organization, etc. Once we save the file, we can go back to that file and “read it” again and again as many times as we want to — or, in other words, re-run the file whenever we want to.
As long as the information has a place to be stored, it will always exist. Is that sort of how you envision your physical existence? It still exists as a “saved file” in the cosmic computer of, say. “The Universe” for lack of a better term? How am I doing, Violet?
Violet: That’s a crude approximation, but not terribly bad, Kenneth — yet, I would add, wildly incomplete.
Ken: Can you elaborate?
Violet: First, what you are not considering is that this so-called “saved file” you mention remains dynamic and still capable of evolving in content and quality — even though it must always be considered the same “file.” Second, you are not accounting for the multi-dimensionality of the “file.” There are an infinite number of parallel “files” that are all the same entity, so to speak.
To make myself perfectly clear, Kenneth, we all live in a Universe (or Multiverse) that is constantly branching out with infinite numbers of parallel realities. Thus, a “saved computer file” is never a singular static thing, so to speak. In this case, of course, when we say “file,” we’re using that as an analogy for a person.
Ken: Thank you, Violet, I’m glad you made that crystal clear for my readers. Violet, I now want to change gears and talk about orbs and the fact that your image appeared to me in an orb. Can you help me understand how this works? Perhaps first confirm for my readers that the pictures I presented above do indeed show your image in an orb.
Violet: Yes, that is me, an image of my physical self as it exists in time.
Ken: Wow! Great! Violet, tell me how this works. How can your image show up in an orb that is “floating around” in my backyard?
Violet: Kenneth, there are many things you do not understand. There are aspects of reality that are difficult for you to make sense of because you do not perceive greater dimensions of existence embedded and enfolded within the totality of the universe you inhabit. In reality, it is a Multiverse of many dimensions with countless permutation swaddled within one another — flowing, interconnecting, interacting. Your mind, your consciousness, began intersecting and interacting with mine after you read my book. Mind you, we are never NOT CONNECTED since all Consciousness is One.
Ken: Thank you. That’s interesting, if also a bit general or vague, if you ask me. Can you be more specific?
Violet: Kenneth, do remember your encounter with Friedrich Nietzsche? You engaged him in a debate, also here in what you prosaically call ‘the lucid dream environment?’ His image also appeared to you in what you call an orb shortly thereafter, correct?
Note: I was stunned that Violet knew about my encounter with Nietzsche! Here is the orb photo that I captured on the same night of my lucid dream meeting with the Great Philosopher:
Violet: Kenneth, you draw to yourself what you focus upon or engage with, especially in an impassioned way. As you know, your conversation with Nietzsche was more than what you politely refer to as “an encounter.” However, you became furious with Mr. Nietzsche and your “encounter” devolved into a frustrating argument.
Ken: That’s true. But I come back to my original question. How does this work? I mean, do you conjure up an orb in your realm, place your image in it and send it to me. Or perhaps you yourself are “riding” in the orb, like a Merkabah Sphere maybe?
To make a long story short, at this point Violet did not answer me verbally, but “projected a scenario” into my awareness. I sat back in a reverie and witnessed:
An image of Violet sitting across the table from me at The Restaurant on the Edge of Time. Violet turned and showed me her left profile. Then — even though it was invisible to the naked eye — I perceived a sphere come from behind her and pass through her head.
This sphere now contained the “image potential” of Violet. Think of the way an older camera that uses film captures and image by allowing light to strike the emollient preparation on the film’s surface. To the naked eye, nothing would appear on the film. However, after the film is process through a series of chemical baths in a dark room, the image emerges.
In the case of the orb image I captured (as shown above), the “invisible orb” became present in my backyard at night. When I released the flash of my camera, the pulse of the flash passed through the invisible sphere — but “latent” or “potential image” of Violet’s profile was brought into visual manifestation as the photons from the flash “filled in” and created the image that now appeared on my digital camera disk.
There is much more to tell, but since my article here is overlong, I’ll end here and leave it to the reader to ponder all that I have presented.
NOTE: For more stories of the paranormal, afterlife contact and more on my orb photography, please see: KEN-ON-MEDIUM.