Ghost stories persist throughout any society and all cultures, so it’s not a surprise that there are just as many ghosts reported in Sydney, Australia, than anywhere else. And perhaps it’s also not a surprise that Sydney has its share of ghost tours, although unlike two hundred years ago, the tales told now are told largely to entertain and give us a healthy scare, as opposed to those who truly believed and feared the stories they heard.
If you’ve checked into one of the Sydney five star hotels, and you wish to check out the paranormal experience others have had, you might do well to look up one of these tours and go for a few hours walk through the city. Sydney has been around since 1788, and during the Edwardian and Victorian periods, both ages saw an increase in spiritual and supernatural interest. Seances were the order of the day as people wanted to contact their loved ones in the afterlife. Especially in the first twenty-five years of the 20th Century, Sydney saw an upswing in the numbers of the Liberal Catholic Church (unrelated to the Roman Catholic Church), and the Theosophical Society, both with a real interest in astral travel and séances, and so on. All of this is to say that Sydney and Australia has its share of ghost sightings as much as any place. Most of these sightings are simply lights, others are full apparitions. Here is just a sampling of the stories:
Quinn’s Light. A yellowish light shaped like an eagle, named after the man who saw it first, John Quinn, appears near the Go Go Ranges in the Daudaman Valley. Pollman. A ghostly wagon may be heard regularly, supposed to belong to a man named Pollman, who hid a large sum of money and then was murdered by his brothers. The sounds may be heard at the Murdering Sandhills near Narandera,NSW. The Black Horse of Sutton’s Forest. A riderless horse is sometimes seen in Sutton’s Forest, with claims that the horse passes right through houses. Elizabeth Farm ghost. An apparition of an old woman walks from room to room.
Of course, not all sightings are ghosts. There’s the story of The Ghost of Dog Trap Road, Parramatta. The ghost in this case was a hoax perpetrated by mischief makers, who were regulars at Stoners Vauxhill Inn in the 1870s. They would go out after sundown and one of them would wear a white sheet, and makes certain he was seen. The ghost-makers were caught and were given a horse whipping for their efforts.
Archive for November 30, 2009
Apparitions in Sydney
LaKeeren in Bombay and Beyond
Having the opportunity to visit Bombay can open up so many splendid doors. Traveling in India is a fantastic adventure, and no one who sets foot in this country leaves untouched in some significant way. For most people, it is a major, life-changing event, opening eyes to another spectrum for possibilities of living in the world. There are many spectacular sights and attractions that are geared toward the tourist’s gaze, offering enchantment and revelation, and an awful lot of fun, for any age. There are also many hidden sides to the country, and in a city as large as Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, this is particularly true. There are many cultures here, as well as subcultures, with particular languages and traditions, and they overlap on the surface in ways that are not visible on a first, or even third, look. This doesn’t mean that a one-time visit won’t reveal many fascinating things, but only that there is always more than meets the eye.
It’s a spectacular city, and it’s been visited by outsiders for centuries. Today, it is relatively simple for travelers coming for a short stay, wanting to get a simple introduction to the complicated city of Bombay. Hotel accommodations are plentiful, and there are many spectacular choices, with something to appeal to every sense of style and every budget. A good hotel is one of the most valuable assets while you’re here, giving you a center for your journey, so you can always have a place to rest and get rejuvenated for more sight-seeing. With all the excellent restaurants, museums, and temples, there is plenty to do to fill the days with pleasure. And if you’re looking to get a sense of the history of the place, with activities that can offer something interesting for every member of the group, there is a spectacular visual art scene here.
Traditional galleries are plentiful, and while you’re looking at new and classical works, you might get a taste of the other sides of Bombay. If you come across Lakeeren, you’ve found something fascinating that offers a sense of what’s really here. This gallery was open as a physical space until 2003, and today exists in slightly different forms. Now it’s a concept more than a space, maybe much more, since the space is very difficult to find if you’re not living in metaphor. They still operate, with an excellent collection and participation is producing excellent exhibitions like the Other (Indian) Story, but these are held in other spaces than Lakeeren. Now it functions more on the lines of rhizomatic relationship of linkages between curators, artists, and theoreticians, and is devoted to promoting art ideas as much as physical objects, and this is a splendid place to be in the 21st century.