Wednesday February 13, 2008

CityNews.ca Staff

There have been all kinds of complaints filed over the years with Metro Housing in Toronto, but even they never had to deal with anything like this. A British low rent housing entity was forced to lay out $117 in taxpayer funds to resolve an ongoing dispute with a tenant. Who got the money and why? It went to help pay a psychic who performed a ghost exorcism in one of the units. The occupants of the home reported hearing banging noises and seeing objects flying across the room by themselves, and told officials on Easington Council in Durham County England they believed their apartment was haunted. And they wanted to know what, if anything, officials planned to do to help them. Police were called and found nothing. But when the tenants insisted they would rather be homeless that stay there with what they believed was a poltergeist inside, the Council reluctantly agreed to pay for half the cost of bringing in a psychic to detect the unrestful spirit and get her to move out. Spiritualist Suzanne Hadwin contends a woman was murdered in the home several years ago and that her essence has never been able to leave. She charges $235 for her services and the government agreed to dole out half of it, with the frightened family picking up the rest. Why? They did the math and discovered it would be cheaper to pay the woman than put the reluctant tenants in emergency housing. “This is the first time we have had to take such a measure,” a council spokeswoman explains dryly. “However, the tenants were extremely distressed at the time and we therefore believed it was the most appropriate course of action.” The family now says they feel safe in their home and don’t want to leave. Would anyone else be able to get this service performed with public money? It might depend on the circumstances, but most believe there isn’t a ghost of a chance.

I’m not sure if anyone has seen or heard about the Judge that was “dumped” just because she shares different beliefs. I find it so hard to believe that there are still ignorant-narrow minded people in this world. “tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world” lol Shut up! That is just so absurd and there are no words! Anyways, I found an article with all the details below…

Beauty Pagent Dumps Tarot Card Reading Judge

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | 12:26 PM ET

CBC NEWS

The reigning Miss Canada Plus says she was dumped as a judge in a Toronto beauty pageant because in her spare time she reads tarot cards.

Stephanie Conover volunteers with several charities; she also occasionally reads tarot cards and practices reiki, a traditional Japanese healing system.

But when she told the Miss Toronto Tourism Pageant about her hobbies, she received a letter saying “tarot card reading is witchcraft and is used by witches, spiritists and mediums to consult the dark world.

“We hope that Stephanie Conover will turn from these belief systems and will repent from her practice of them.”

“It’s understandable that people are scared of what they don’t understand,” Conover said. “But at the same time, if you are promoting a pageant that promotes Toronto tourism, uses that in the name and then say that they stand for multiculturalism and diversity…”

“We never said anything bad about her,” said Warren Booth, a member of the pageant’s board of directors.

Booth said the pageant feared Conover would consult tarot cards to pick a winner.

“We want to be in line with God’s word when it comes to this type of activity and this isn’t anywhere near God’s word,” he said.

Miss Toronto Tourism doesn’t receive funding from any level of government and has no connection whatsoever to Tourism Toronto, the official marketing group hired to promote the city.

Booth claims the pageant doesn’t have a religious slant but has every right to reject anyone for any reason.

“In our eyes it’s not an appropriate hobby,” he said.

Conover isn’t impressed.

“If you are running an organization, yes, you have the right to stipulate who can and who can’t participate, but at the same time there’s nothing in it that says it is the Miss Christian Toronto pageant.”

Conover adds that if the pageant sees the error of its ways, she would still act as a judge.

Last week I was driving on the Danforth and I noticed a cool looking pub with a sign that stated they they hold a psychic fair every 2nd Sunday of the month.  I googled them and was happy to find out more details… it’s held twice a month at 2 Toronto Locations by some “best” (self proclaimed?) psychics. Their site states that they have a high accuracy rate and 97% of their clients were satisfied.  The first location is at The Old Nick at 123 Danforth Avenue, at Broadview, 2nd Sunday of each month, from 1pm to 5pm. The second location is at 554 Parliament Street at Wellesely, last Sunday of each month, from 11apm to 3pm. I think I’m going to check it out.  I have had a strong feeling that it’s time I went to see a psychic.  Maybe they can guide me to help me understand more about these unexplained experiences that I have had.  For more information please see their site: http://www.psychicbrunch.ca/

I was watching Discovery  A Haunting,  Season 4 – Episode 11,  Legend Trippers.  That is an actual term that is used and the show  described it as  persons  who are interested in the paranormal, that  go on  casual investigations, of  allegedly haunted  locations.  That describes a majority of  ghost hunters who are starting out, but if you are in that group, please beware. Don’t take the paranormal so lightly and always go in at least a group of two!   I wouldn’t recommend going at all if you are a vulnerable soul because you may be followed or overtaken. Speaking from actual experience, the force and strength an entity holds is beyond incredible. The following video is of three Wisconsin teenagers who have very little to do on a Halloween night so one learns of a legendary nearby haunted cemetery. The site also lists a dare and they decide to see for themselves if the stories are true.   I Googled the site, but couldn’t find it.  For  a list of haunted spots for Toronto, or your city, hit the web and you will surely obtain ample listings for public places with rumored activity.