Halloween season gives a Massachusetts musician and traveling psychic Tarot reader cause to wonder. He has been receiving strange 'hauntings,' possibly in response to his popular music album, Forestdale, 'hauntingly beautiful' classical music which was inspired by a local cemetery. An amusing account of how that which is natural can have supernatural overtones.
It's Halloween season again and for some of us, our thoughts turn to ghosts and spirits and tricks and treats. This year, neoclassical composer, and intuitive psychic Tarot reader, Tim Thompson, received quite a trick -- an unexpected and "super" natural haunting, possibly connected to his music album, "Forestdale-- Tone Poems Inspired by Nature", which fans have called 'hauntingly beautiful'. The album was inspired by the natural beauty of a local cemetery!
Says Thompson, "As I understand it, the Forestdale Cemetery in Malden, MA, was designed by Frederick James Olmsted, like Mt. Auburndale in Cambridge, and was intended as a public park as well as a place to honor the dead. I sometimes go there because it is such a peaceful and inspiring place. It is also a wildlife sanctuary. It was the natural beauty, and perhaps a few messages from 'the other side', that inspired me to compose the neoclassical music album."
Besides being a neoclassical composer, Thompson is a member of a troupe of traveling psychics, "Psychic View Points Entertainment", based in Somerville, MA. He has been reading Tarot with them at parties and events for two years, and has 12 years of training and practice with the cards. He even designed their Web site.
Little did Tim know that one of the Forestdale album selections-- "The Busy Squirrel" -- would come back to haunt him! Forestdale is loaded with the little critters, and they usually stay there. But this year, things have been different. He has lived near the cemetery for years and nothing like this has happened before. You see, he has recently been "haunted" by -- squirrels! And they have been quite tricky little beasties, going so far as to climb on and cling to the outside of his back porch door! "What do I have that they want?", the haunted composer kept asking himself. Then he began to wonder about the album itself, which he admits to playing a lot on his stereo.
Tim explains, "My favorite selection on the album is track 10, 'The Busy Squirrel'. I like it for the way I was able to musically portray the activities of the squirrels of Forestdale. It features my XV Orchestra's sparkling double harpsichord, among other fun instruments. I ran into writer's block while composing it and did some meditation, allowing my intuition and imagination free play. I even visited the cemetery and watched the squirrels for added inspiration. I really concentrated on their nut gathering and scampering up the trees. It paid off -- late that night, I got a sudden rush of inspiration that helped me finish the piece in grand style. I was pleased with the work and I figured, that was the end of it."
Apparently, Mother Nature -- or something else -- had other ideas!
In the past month, Tim noticed his two indoor cats, Gertrude and Eddie, staring at the ceiling of his little house, running back and forth as if chasing something. He thought it was a small insect that had gotten in, but he could see nothing. He also thought about cats' reported psychic attributes and wondered if there was a spirit or two coming by for a visit. Then he started hearing noises in the attic. "At first," he says, "I thought of that movie, 'The Exorcist', and being smarter than the characters in a horror film, I decided NOT to go up there to investigate."
It was shortly after that when he saw evidence of a real and physical presence.
"I went out on my enclosed back porch (sealed off from the rest of the house by a windowed interior door) one morning and found it all torn up! I could not figure out what happened! Gert and Eddie spend time there, looking out the windows at the birds and I thought maybe they got over excited. So I kept them inside the main house for a while. Shortly thereafter, I heard a ruckus and looked out the door window onto the porch. There was a jet black squirrel rushing around, trying to get out! I gathered my wits, put Eddie and Gertie in a safe enclosed room, went around outside the house and opened the outer porch door. Shortly thereafter, the little creature ran off. It was the first time I had ever seen a black squirrel in this area -- seemed a bit odd."
Two days later, it had returned, this time, with a gray friend! Once again, Tim used the door trick. He knew something was afoot, and decided to get some advice. "Being psychic and spiritual, I called a local Shaman friend and asked what a visitation from the squirrels meant, especially in light of the album. She replied, 'It means you better call pest control!'"
Tim called in an "exorcist of the natural kind", a pest control expert who found evidence of the animals' presence and the source their entrance (not surprisingly, from the attic chimney) and sealed it. But he found no animals "in residence".
"I did psychically warn the squirrels. They were annoying, but I didn't want harm to come to them. Perhaps they got the message?" Tim says.
The upshot is that the Thompson house is now squirrel free, and more securely sealed, but it has given Tim cause to wonder.
"I have lived in this house for many years and nothing like this has happened before. The cats knew something was going on and tried to tell me -- you've got to love them for that!" he says.
"I know there is a perfectly natural explanation for this visitation -- pheromones, nesting needs and so on. Yet I cannot help but wonder about the Forestdale music album. After all, this is the first time that something like this has happened! A lot of mysterious things can be explained both rationally and mystically. The doors of wonder are always open, especially when you consider the timing.
You see, during this time, there has been a great deal of activity on-line around the Forestdale album. More than one customer has e-mailed me saying that the music is 'hauntingly beautiful.' But what is even more peculiar is that I have been giving away the selection, 'The Busy Squirrel' as a free MP3 file and people have been grabbing it up-- sort of like, well, squirrels gathering nuts. I just have to wonder if those Forestdale squirrels weren't coming around expecting some form of payment for their part in the music?"
One never knows.
He adds that this experience in no way means he'll stop giving away that selection on-line. "People really love it-- it gives them a great taste of what the Forestdale album is like, and there is no reason why they should be deprived of something they so obviously enjoy. Of course, the best thing about my 'musical squirrels' is that, while they may be busy, they are certainly not pests!"
At this time of Halloween when we ponder that which is natural and that which is supernatural, at least one composer has cause to wonder.
"I was thinking," says Tim, "If my Forestdale album DID somehow -- on some level -- excite this strange 'super' natural visitation, perhaps I should compose a new musical album called: "Lots of Money"?
He also has a contingency plan, should the squirrels ever return. "I'm considering learning the bagpipe!"
Be afraid, squirrels, be very afraid!
"Forestdale – Tone Poems Inspired by Nature" is available only on-line from ClydeSight Productions at http://www.clydesight.com
"The Busy Squirrel" free MP3 file is available on-line at: http://www.clydesight.com under the heading "Free MP3 files" on the home page.
