Joan Charles - An Angel Walked Beside Me - Amazing stories of children who touch the other side

My life has been an amazing journey and it’s still far from over. I’ll tell you a little more about how I work as we travel this journey together. One thing that has become clear to me over the years of living and working as a psychic is that we are currently living in a moment when the importance of children with special gifts will become more and more obvious, and I want to share some of my stories with you to explain the ways in which these can manifest themselves. It’s not easy being a psychic child. This is something I know from personal experience.

Learning to communicate with spirit

When the gift is in its early stages, in other words when the psychic is a child, there are few boundaries. They can end up fending off countless spirits all jostling for attention every minute of every day. I sometimes imagine the spirit world as a frantically busy place whenever a new ‘route’ for sending messages appears. They all have so much to say and they all desperately want their loved ones to know that they are fine, so the appearance of a child who can pass on their messages gives them a means of being heard. When I was little, I had no way of making sure that I was the one choosing when and what to hear – and some spirits take advantage of that. Most spirits are well-meaning, but it would still be a draining life if day after day allowed no respite from the barrage of messages being sent through.

As I got older and more comfortable with my gift, I learned more about how to be selective. At times, that involves me being strict about when I’ll accept messages, or it can mean that I block some senders – it’s a bit like having psychic email. Now I only pick up my messages during work hours if possible, I ignore the junk mail, and there are certain senders whom I never encourage.

However, there are still times when it is open season. If I’m preparing for a show, for example, I have to take the firewall down for the day and see who comes through. On such days I get a lot of communication. Sometimes I will sense someone walking beside me, or I will receive a direct message in my head that is clear and precise, like an order. Sometimes I will feel an emotion that I know is coming from someone else, or I will smell something very distinct. It may be that none of it makes sense at that moment, but I know that during the show these will be clues I need to pass on to others. Spirits can use a scent or a name or a place or a feeling to connect with those they have left behind. They will send me messages to prove that what I am saying is genuine, and, to me, this is crucial. I always prove things. Whenever and wherever I can, I will give people incontrovertible evidence by relating facts that I couldn’t possibly know. Once people have been reassured about the genuine nature of my gift, I can move on to the real point which needs to be passed on. Some mediums feel they shouldn’t have to provide proof, but it has always been an integral part of the way I work.

Throughout my psychic development I have had the gifts of clairvoyance, clairsentience and clairaudience. The earliest example of clairvoyance was when I saw the Angel of Death at the age of five. As I got older I felt as if I was watching a TV screen in my mind’s eye, one that was as real as anything else around me. When I imagined myself older and happy, I was experiencing ‘precognitive clairvoyance’, which meant I was seeing myself in the future through a vision.

I always had clairsentience. I felt things even though I often couldn’t explain why I felt them. I could sense or feel when someone was not right in themselves because I would feel it in me too. If someone felt sick, I would feel sick too. I still have that gift very strongly.

Clairaudience came much later in life when I had been developing and working as a psychic for some time. I could always see and feel, but it was a while before I heard anything much. I started to hear a name here and there, and it was as if spirits were allowing me to build this gift slowly so that I could cope. It developed over time and now I hear spirit speak to me internally as a matter of course.

Sometimes one of my gifts works more strongly than another – I just go with whatever comes along and trust that it will all be fine, and this has generally worked very well for me.

On top of these gifts, I have always had the ability to read auras. When I began going to spiritualist churches, giving readings and working as a psychic, auras became more and more clear to me. When I was in my early thirties, I studied aromatherapy and found that the more I worked with people, the more connected I became. I would see flickers of light around them, and sense spirit. As I progressed, I saw changing colours and shapes as well. This is how auras work; they change according to what is happening in the individual’s life at any given time.

There are seven main layers in an aura. The first is a kind of smoky haze, rather like what you would see if you were driving along on a summer’s day after it had been raining. When the sun comes out, the haze begins to rise, and this is very similar to that first, or etheric, layer of an aura.

The second layer is the emotional layer, which has colour. It begins to expand out of the body, and this is where connections are made.

Level three is the mental layer, the one that relates to how we process the intellect or thought. Basically, it is about what makes us tick and it also relates to the way in which things worry us to a greater or lesser degree. When a psychic taps into this layer, they will be able to see, sense or experience how the person copes with things in their life at a practical or logical level.

Level four is the layer referred to as the astral layer. It is the bridge that crosses between the third and fifth layers. The first three are all linked to the physical world of the individual and the way in which they manage in it, but as you cross the fourth you enter into a more spiritual realm of love and greater consciousness. It is rather like a portal between the first three and final three layers.

The fifth level is the etheric template. This layer is a copy of the previous layers, but one that taps into a greater consciousness. It is where physical and spiritual thoughts merge and can become manifestations through focus, love and vibration. A manifestation is when you think about something and focus your attention on it and it happens. It is where anything is possible if we focus on it.

Level six is the celestial layer. It connects with dreams, intuition and greater knowledge. It is turned on through meditation and other spiritual practices that enable mediums to work in these realms.

Level seven is the ketheric layer. This is like a shell that holds all the other auric layers in place. It contains all knowledge and understanding of everything you have ever done, a map of where you have been and what you have done and where you are heading. Very few of us get more than small glimpses of this layer, but I sometimes see it when a person has been reincarnated.

Like most professional mediums, I often take part in shows and tours. The sheer number of people at these events, both in the audience and in spirit, is staggering, but I firmly believe that if a message needs to come through, it will. Those who have passed over have such love for those of us who remain behind on the Earth plane that they keep trying until they finally make contact. Relationships are not ended simply by the passing of one party; they do not fade away because one person is no longer visible to the other.

When I am working at a show I need to use all my gifts to bring messages to the person whom they concern. I will be reading auras, hearing messages, seeing images, feeling emotions and sometimes smelling scents as well, and I have to put together all these signals in order to communicate them to the member of the audience for whom they are intended. I’m going to finish this first chapter with a story that demonstrates the way this can work in practice.