A recent CBS5 report served to highlight
what residents of New Orleans have known
for years: this is a haunted city.
CBS5 reporter Janet Yee, embedded
with a unit of California National Guard
First Responders stationed in New Orleans
recently revealed that there’s something
more spooky than just the horrific images
of disaster and death surrounding them.
According to Yee, it seems that the hurricane
may have displaced more than just living
victims.
The Sophie B. Wright Middle
School on Napoleon Avenue in New Orleans
where the California Guard unit is stationed
has stood empty since the evacuation of
the city during Hurricane Katrina in August.
The Guards have taken over the school for
use as a staging area for assignments throughout
the storm-battered metropolitan area. These
daily assignments expose the Guardsmen to
some of the most devastated areas of the
city where, in the immediate aftermath of
the storm, bodies floated and the dead outnumbered
the living rescuers.
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Sophie B. Wright Middle
School, CIRCA 1930 1426 Napoleon
Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70115
Orleans Parish
But it’s the activities inside the school that have the California guardsmen most spooked, according to Yee’s report. Several guardsmen, many of whom are battle-hardened soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, recount chilling tales of shadowy spirits, unexplainable noises, and the ghost of a little girl who seems curious about the bustle of new activity inside the school.
“Said Sgt. Robin Hairston of the
California National Guard: "I was in
my sleeping bag and I opened by eyes and
in the doorway was a little girl. It wasn't
my imagination."
The California guards have a definite sense
that they are not alone in the building.
Many were so troubled that they asked the
company chaplain to intervene. In an effort
to dispel some of the fears, the chaplain
went through the building, Bible and holy
water in hand, and demanded of the spirits:
“In the name of Jesus Christ, I command
you Satan to leave the dark areas of this
building.”
Which is all well and good, except that,
as many experts contend, hauntings are not
always the result of demonic infestation.
This is something important to keep in mind,
especially when staying in a city as haunted
as New Orleans.
True to form, the Sophie B.
Wright School spirits kept right on manifesting.
According to Yee’s report Spc. Rosales Leanor had her own encounter with the ghosts in one of the school’s restrooms.
"I was using the restroom and I
just saw a little shadow," Leanor said.
"Kind of looming in front of me."
The twelve foot high ceiling of the restroom was damaged by a water leak during the storm that caused the old plaster to give way exposing the old woodwork and a gaping, black hole into an attic crawl space. This hole, Yee suggests and many of the guards believe, is a major source of the spirit activity now taking place inside the school. Yee herself claimed to have seen a “cloudy” apparition lingering near the ceiling of the restroom before she even began her investigative report.
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In a hallway adjacent to the restroom is
a janitor’s closet containing cleaning
supplies. Oddly, this is the location where
the ghost of the little girl is most often
felt and heard. Another member of the Guard
unit said that she saw and heard a little
girl laughing when she opened the closet
to retrieve some cleaning supplies.
The California Guards are taking the ghostly
visits in stride and, as one might expect,
it is just another strange part of their
experience in the devastated city that was
once New Orleans.
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In the wake of Hurricane Katrina many
pundits and self-righteous individuals
with axes to grind pointed to the devastation
as a deliberate act of an angry God.
Saying that God had finally acted on
His displeasure by bringing a storm
of retribution on a city they see as
“the Sodom of the South.”
Before dismissing the claims as patently
absurd it might be well to keep in mind
the experiences of yet another National
Guard unit at a Baton Rouge area marina.
According to Yee, boats were tossed
about like toys and there wasn’t
a shred of trash or paper around except
for a single Bible that was found nearby,
open to the Book of Revelation.
Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not,
at a nearby church that was almost completely
destroyed by the force of Hurricane
Katrina another Bible was found, open
to the exact same passages in Revelation.
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The passages in question are Chapters
10 and 11 that make reference to the
“witnesses of God” who will
be destroyed:
“. . . And their dead bodies
will lay in the street of the great
city which spiritually is called Sodom
. . . Then those from the peoples, tribes,
tongues, and nations will see their
dead bodies three-and-a-half days and
not allow their dead bodies to be put
into graves. And those who dwell on
the earth will rejoice over them, make
merry, and send gifts to one another…”
Of course, the detractors and, in this
case at least, even the guardsmen didn’t
completely read the Bible passage they
so quickly held up as an epitaph for
drowned New Orleans. Had they done so
they might have found a more hopeful
message:
“Now after the three-and-a-half
days the breath of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet,
and great fear fell on those who saw
them. And they heard a loud voice from
heaven saying to them ‘Come up
here.’ And they ascended to heaven
in a cloud, and their enemies saw them
. . . and the rest were afraid and gave
glory to the God of heaven.”
What Yee and the Guardsmen in her report
seemed to overlook entirely is that
New Orleans is a special city where
for generations so many of our wise
have walked hand in hand with the powers
around us. Men and women of faith, representing
nearly every culture and religion, have
all contributed to the melting pot that
is the fabulous City of New Orleans.
Steeped in a predominantly Catholic
culture, with a thriving community of
Afro-Caribbean traditions, there is
something about New Orleans that keeps
everyone – living and dead –
coming back and hanging around.
The guards stationed at Sophie B. Wright
Middle School got only a tiny taste
of the hauntings that fill this grand
old town. Unfortunately, the disaster
of Hurricane Katrina was so complete
that in the minds of many it could only
have been the act of an angry God.
Whatever forces of Nature and spirit
combined to bring the horrible devastation
of August on this City, the experiences
recounted here just go to show that
the true spirit(S) of New Orleans will
never be kept down or categorized. Indeed,
there are mighty protectors who have
kept New Orleans alive for nearly three
hundred years and perhaps it is these
intelligences who left their calling
cards in the aftermath of the storm?
View
Janet Yee’s full report and video
for CBS5 by following this link:
Click here > CBS 5: Guardsmen Sense
Ghostly Presence In New Orleans
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Never a winning season for the New
Orleans Saints, the great white elephant
of the Superdome sits battered and beaten
by the rage of Hurricane Katrina. Said
to be built on razed cemeteries, is
the Dome cursed, as many believe? Or
is this all part of some larger plan?
In her lifetime, famed psychic Jeane
Dixon (1918-1997) was an astrologer
and alleged psychic. Her reputation
for having done so began when it was
recalled after the assassination that
the following had appeared in Parade
magazine in 1956: made many predictions,
such as the assasination of President
John F. Kennedy and the 1964 Alaskan
earthquake. When she visited New Orleans
and toured the Superdome, Dixon made
dark predictions about a future time
when people would gather in the building
in fear of their lives; in her vision
she saw clouds around the Superdome
roof and sunlight pouring in afterward
as people cried in fear and pain. Can
it be that Jeanne Dixon foresaw the
tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, the largest
and most costly natural disaster in
America's history ?Or is it th e real
overture to a Brave New World for the
children of Cain?
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Jeane Dixon Museum and Library The Jeane Dixon Museum and Library tells the story of one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century. On display you will find her personal possessions, furnishings, and personal and professional papers that chronicle her life as a psychic. Best known as the seer who correctly predicted Kennedy's assassination, Dixon also predicted the fates of several other celebrities with astonishing accuracy. These exhibits thoroughly describe Jeane's accomplishments, and also examine her skeptics' theories explaining paranormal activities. Open Friday's, Saturday's, and Sunday's, May through October, and also by appointment.
