PARADIMENSIONS ARTICLE :.

THE GLOWING GRAVESTONE                    Terry Stokes

This was perhaps the most famous psychic occurrence to have my involvement.

The date would have been about 1960, in St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic cemetery in Leytonstone, London.

A friend had told me that come darkness each night from the depths of the cemetery would glow a large cross, so for me as a curious schoolboy this just had to be seen.

When we arrived up on the brow of the hill there were already a dozen watchers and on talking to them we discovered that on some nights fifty or sixty people would gather. Many would sing hymns and marvel, as others gathered a little down the road, catcalling and verbally abusing them.

As the fame spread in local newspapers and on radio, it became the local sport on pub closing time to go and torment the nightly gatherers and the local police had seen it their duty to clear everyone away each night, especially as the numbers of tourists at weekends could reach one hundred.

These events always attract colourful characters and a retired vicar would read the Bible out loud for hours on end to a blank wall, oblivious of any abuse.

While one grey haired sillyarse Catholic priest would come over and shout that "There was no such thing as the paranormal".

The council, who tended the graveyard under pressure from a police force sick of complaints from people living nearby, began to take action.

Among the preventative measures taken was the painting of a section of nearby street lamps in a bid to stop any reflection.

The council also examined some graves for signs of luminous paint and even checked the stones themselves for any phosphorous or mineral content which might shine in the dark.

Next they began to erect large wooden barriers but no matter what they did, including re-routing traffic to discourage onlookers, the glowing cross remained.

It was said that buried in this churchyard were several famous people, including a pair of Jack the Ripper's victims and it was their souls crying out for vengeance, that was making the cross shine at night.

For a group of teachers once set out a ouiji board on a flat gravestone in the graveyard's Victorian section one time and claimed they had been contacted by one of the Ripper's victims who, it was claimed, should really have been dubbed Jacob the Ripper - as the murders had been committed by a Rabbi trying to clean up the area.

It is on record that the spot where Ripper victim Catherine Eddows was found still fainty glows in the dark and incidentally, the London police Black Museum plus some modern criminal profilers, claim that among the huge influx of Polish Jews to the area, the most likely suspect among them was one Aaron Kosminsky.

One evening. after listening to the stories of healings and other miraculous things that were rumoured to be happening there and the opposing views that it could only be something evil, I spoke to a little crowd of Jamaicans who were convinced it was an undead spirit involving voodoo

So direct action was called for and scrambling over the vicious pointed railings before jumping down on the other side and allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness, I picked my way toward the glowing cross that was causing all the attention.

It was said that the church authorities were at their wits end, with all the people trampling over church property demanding answers, often at dead of night.

As I trod my way towards the glow I became aware that it was the most incredibly powerful pale green light and quite unnatural in appearance. Suddenly, when approaching the grave close enough to read the wording on it, my eyes adjusted to the fact that it was bound round with lots of sacking, yet was still shining right through. This unnerved me and with my heart beating very fast I quickly made my retreat back to the railings and the safety of the road.

During the next week or so the gravestone was taken down for and subjected to “tests” of various kinds.

The knock on effect was quite surprising, for the location had become quite a gathering place for people to meet and talk about the “gravestone”. Couples had even met and started relationships there, a local Jewish businessman could no longer bring his hotdog van tand the juggler, who would put down his hat and juggle for pennies, had also to find another site.

The retired vicar with his Bible went God knows where and the religious pamphleteers could no longer tout on behalf of their own particular church. But most vocal of all, the bewiskered old lady in the sweet shop saw her takings on tobacco and sweets drop by half.

Amusingly the local publican considered changing the name of his pub to that of the “Shining Cross”, until the brewery told him where to get off.

Apparently the locals still argue over the cause of the phenomena, which was never solved satisfactorily. A Jamaican couple I met there fascinated me with their tales of Caribbean sorcery and voodoo and I still get Christmas cards from them each year. Their son who was even conceived in their car within sight of the stone and intuitively, perhaps, they called him “Crossley” and he now has his own family.

Copyright © 2006

Author Terry Stokes is also a lecturer and broadcaster in paranormal studies who welcomes feedback from readers.
Palms also read by email via: palmist@fsmail.net

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