For the last twenty years I have had contacts from time to time with the other side. Sometimes I will go for months without a contact; sometimes there will be more than one on a single day. Recently, the husband of a lady I know died unexpectedly. She came to see me because they had had harsh words just prior to his death and she could not feel at peace until this was resolved. You cannot always make a contact when you want to, but in this case there was no difficulty, because the husband was just as upset as she was and desperately wanted to make it up. I could see him clearly on his knees begging for forgiveness. I was able to help them resolve this and they both felt deeply relieved as a result, Of course, a cynic could argue that it was all wish-fulfilment, but I have enough experience of this kind of thing now to know when a contact is genuine. This kind of help is beneficial for the bereaved party here in the physical world, and very often for the departed soul as well, who may find it difficult to move on until unresolved matters are cleared up.

A vivid example of this happened to me in March 1996, when I was having lunch with a longtime friend of mine, Dave Davies, lead guitarist of the rock band The Kinks. We were in an Italian restaurant, and for some reason were at a table set for three rather than two. Suddenly I saw an image of John Lennon seated in the third chair, and Dave, who is also psychic, immediately picked up a presence. John was dressed in the uniform he wore on the Sergeant Pepper album cover, which, unbeknown to me, was the last time Dave had seen him alive prior to that The Kinks had opened for The Beatles at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. Dave did not see him, but could hear him telepathically, and picked up the title for a song to be called 'Unfinished Business'. We pushed the food aside, took out paper and pen, and wrote the basis of a song there and then. Subsequently Dave worked on it further, with John helping and a little input from myself. It was a three-way collaboration, as opposed to a song channelled by John through us, but it is about John's interrupted life and the things he wants to say from the other side as well as a parable for all of us individually and globally. As I write, it has just been released (November 1998) as the title track on an anthology album of Dave's work with the Kinks and his solo work. I believe John may well have influenced other musicians and bands from the other side since he passed on, whether they are aware of it or not. Guides have to work with whoever is psychic enough to work with them. John also knew that Dave would have the skill and the means to follow it through once the material was written.

When people die they are very concerned to communicate to their loved ones the fact that they are still 'alive'. They want people to know that they are still there and that there is no such thing as death for anyone. Once that major point is made there is no need, in most cases, for regular contact with the departed. Many mediums use their ability as a way of maintaining emotional relationships between people, even after death. This, I believe, can be debilitating both for the bereaved and the departed. They should be getting on with their lives here and there respectively, not holding each other back. It is particularly important for the deceased person to move on and not be held back by their loved ones, who do not wish to let them go. After all, they are really only waiting for the right time to reincarnate here again.

The most acute example of a soul not moving on is a ghost, who can hardly be described as a guide, because the very thing they need most is guidance. They are people, usually harmless, who have died but remain attached to a person or a place in the physical world, and either do not realise or refuse to accept that they have really died. They either haunt buildings or people. I remember once being asked to do an exorcism, which I must say is one of my least favourite pastimes, by the mother of a teenage girl who would not leave the house. She just refused to go out. The mother suspected that she was possessed by an evil spirit and asked me to remove it. The whole area of psychic possession is closely aligned to the field of mental illness and psychics should always be aware that so-called possessions may in fact be some form of psychological disturbance, possibly even schizophrenia. By the same token, psychotherapists would do well to work with reliable psychics, because some of their patients may be in need of the correct kind of spiritual help as well as other treatment. In the case of this girl, it was easy to see the problem. It was not an evil spirit trying to stop her going out, it was her father who had died and, in a very old-fashioned way, did not like the idea of her meeting up with boys at her age. He was emotionally possessive rather than psychically possessive and was influencing her mind not to leave the house. This was completely wrong, of course, as my guides pointed out to him in no uncertain terms. They helped him to move on, as he was meant to, and detach from his daughter and the physical world in general. The next day, the girl went out and was fine thereafter. Although I explained to the mother delicately what the real cause of her daughter's problem had been, I think she chose to believe that I had exorcised an evil spirit from her.

Other than cases of bereavement or genuine unfinished business, which can be sorted out usually in one sitting, contacts with relatives and friends just for the sake of contact should be avoided. It should be a case of live and let live. The only legitimate regular contact with the other realms is for the purpose of furthering some worthwhile work, which requires inspiration and guidance. Sometimes this will be given knowingly sometimes it will be unseen help which just comes to you. An inspired idea pops into your head and you have no clue where it came from. It may be a guide or it may be your own higher self. In some ways, it does not really matter. The main thing is that it gets through to you.