Animals know
The higher ones are spiritually sensitive, which leads me to believe they live on in some form after death. First a word about my neighbours. The people in the flat upstairs are what are known in the States as ‘trailer trash’ (like dirty, naff council-estate proles), only these are particularly malevolent, not only fighting with each other (the police have come round at least once) but, insidiously, using gossip to try to play me and the landlord against each other (rows over maintenance). Then there are my friends on this floor and their nine-month-old yellow Lab-border collie mix, my good buddy Spike. Last night the gossipy matriarch of the upstairs clan (I’ve named her either Granny Clampett or Mammy Yoakum) was bringing in groceries at the front of the house and Spike reacted to her, not aggressively but by getting spooked, like he’d seen a ghost or a demon. Well, perhaps he did! He cowered and cried, begging me to get him inside right now! I’ve never seen him act like that before.

I’ve also had this kind of oppression happen both here and elsewhere.

There he quickly fell asleep. Sometime later he awoke to find the room completely black and found breathing almost impossible. There was a great weight on his chest. He appeared to be suffocating. He tried to pray but the words impossible and so mentally recited the Lord's prayer. Slowly the weight began to lift...

Very scary indeed.

Glad I’m well stocked with holy water, the daily office, a first-class relic of St Augustine and many icons in my home.