By MORWENNA HOLMAN
Morwenna Holman is a ‘spirit writer’, which means her novels are dictated to her by spirits, “communing with the departed to write stories of their lives which are lost in the mists of time.” Her first novel, Westerdale, was published in 2013, a story she wrote in her teens, when she said she was visited by the spirit of Emily Bronte. Her latest novel, Heaton, is a prequel to Westerdale and is available now. Morwenna sells her books in an effort to raise vital funds for Morley Holistic Cat Rescue. The charity desperately needs a new cattery for the many abandoned felines it deals with. Heaton is available now from Amazon and FeedARead.
Although I expect every spirit writer has their own techniques that are individual to them, the ultimate desire is to create a passive uncluttered mind through which the spirit can make contact. It is much like retuning a radio when you prepare your mind to receive guidance, and the outer world must be turned off as far as possible. It is not very conducive to the spirit if you start adding up all the calories you have eaten today when they are trying to convey the outline of their life story.
With continual practice, however, I find the outer world does fade and I am not conscious of it unless something dramatic happens like a loud knock at the door. I usually turn off all phones and put some relaxing music on before I begin. I used to meditate to bring a calm state of mind but now I find that that is unnecessary, although many spirit writers still do it.
Certainly I still my mind and empty it of all thought then concentrate on my breathing, counting my breaths until they slow right down. When this happens I take my consciousness up into my third eye. This is the space between my eyebrows and is where our psychic power lies. This is where the re-tuning comes in as I turn from the material world around me to the inner world within my soul.
Once I feel my energy collected in my third eye, a sensation a bit like that floating feeling you get just before you fall asleep, I ask inwardly if any spirits would like to make contact. If I am writing with a particular spirit at the time then I will use their name, eg “Cordelia Deane – are you there and happy to communicate with me?” This is always said out loud. Sometimes the spirits simply aren’t around and you just have to accept that. Equally they may make contact with me, saying that they wish to commune but for whatever reason I cannot. There is a definite mutual respect.
Sometimes this re-tuning can take a while and often it is several minutes before contact is established. I close my eyes throughout this whole procedure but after a good link is established I can open my eyes and start to write what they are telling me. I must remain very passive throughout the initial contact period, just as a spiritual healer does when channelling spiritual energy to use for healing. After contact is made it can all get really lively and my mind is then in an active stage, listening to the spirit’s voice which is always felt in the centre of the forehead, in the third eye. Usually they will confirm their name and start the two-way conversation with the simple word, “Blessings”.
Then comes the fun as they recount the latest activities in the story they are relating to me and I type or write it and they give their comments. I always speak out loud to the spirit so my inner voice can use all of its energy to concentrate on what they are saying. I have seen it written that the spirits are controlling your mind but I do not agree with this because I always feel in total control and able to get out of the communication if I so wish.
Often in a sensitive individual like myself the emotions of the spirit recounting a particularly tragic story manifest themselves physically, and many is the time I write with tears streaming down my face. The spirit usually sends me pictures of what happened and exactly what the characters look like so I can describe them in detail and, if I was an artist, I could draw them too. All this is quite tiring as often after an hour or so of communing there is the feeling of “holding” the spiritual frequency and then I know it is time to break the contact and rest. All this can be very draining and I rarely do more than one hour a day because of it. I am also disabled and often ill. It requires both physical and mental stability and health to spirit write.
Occasionally I have overstepped the mark with writing as when I attempted to put down the last tragic chapter of Rainharrow. This was a feat that left me in tears for weeks due to the intensity of the last few pages from the perspective of absorbing the three characters’ feelings – all of them in despair, mental anxiety or physical illness. My stomach ached for Cathy, my heart raced for Edwin and my mind buckled under the anxiety and fear Paul felt.
Being a lover of the 1800s, I always ask for spirit from that era to talk to me, much as a dentist deals with teeth and a chiropodist with feet I immerse myself in those past ages because I know I can write in that classical style and hopefully do justice to the tale I am told.
I would say being a spirit writer is the most amazing part of my life but it is also one of the hardest and I hope that people world-wide are touched and entertained by these stories from days gone by.