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Interview

Lea Scott on The Ned Kelly Game

Lea Scott on ghosts, psychic phenomena, clairvoyance and psychology...

READERSVOICE.COM: How did your interest in psychic phenomena and clairvoyance start? What experiences have you had?

LEA SCOTT: There is a mild psychic ability passed down through the maternal side of my family. From an early age I recall my grandmother and mother talking of ‘knowing’ when bad things were about to happen, in a general sense. I, myself, have experienced clear visions and dreams of events and accidents which have occurred to people close to me since I was a teenager.

In my mid-twenties I became aware of my abilities as an empath when I began to experience the emotions and physical pains of those around me. I have since learnt methods to block some of these.

My experiences with supernatural presences are extensive – in fact I could write a whole book of real-life ghost stories about the presences I have encountered.

RV: Do you believe in ouija boards and seances and the like? Do you think it’s best people stay away from them, and what are any bad experiences you’ve heard people have had?

LS: To believe in ouija boards and séances, one must first believe that a person can exist outside their physical form. Because of my own experiences, I have always remained open-minded on the subject.

I have not actually directly experienced contact with a spirit using a ouija board or séance because of the stigma attached to it. Quite frankly, I’ve never had the nerve to invite a spirit to communicate with me because, particulary when I was younger, just seeing and sensing them frightened me. The only actual communication I have had is with my grandfather just after he died.

I’ve never known anyone to be ‘followed’ by evil spirits after using them. We’ve all heard such stories but perhaps it’s a case of the Urban Myth at play. While I’ve come across presences that have felt angry, I have to admit that I did once came across a ‘spirit’ that I felt was inherently evil.

I was in an old Queenslander that we were inspecting for sale. I was physically shoved as I stood in the bedroom alone, then as I left the house I had a vision of the whole house turning into a ball of fire from which a face screamed at me to leave (and no I hadn’t been drinking!).

It was one of the most frightening things I’ve ever experienced. Suffice to say, we didn’t buy the house!

RV: You’re also interested in psychology and I was wondering if you think psychic phenomena and psychology are the same thing, like there’s a rational psychological explanation for everything, or if you thought there was some spiritual or supernatural reality apart from people’s perceptions.

LS: This is an interesting argument and I like to read about the subject as I am a very analytical person and have studied some psychology at university.

I am currently reading a novel called Superstition by David Ambrose, which deals with this very subject.

The argument at one end of the spectrum is that ghosts exist and the other that people psychologically create them through powers in their mind that they are not even aware of, such as telekinesis and telepathy. I’d probably have to say that I sway toward the former.

Often when I have seen or sensed a presence, I get a sense of how they died as well, without any prior knowledge of their existence. In most cases, I have been able to obtain information after the fact that confirms their existence and death in the location. It kind of blows the theory out of the water that I made them up in my mind, if I had no previous knowledge and the event had actually occurred.

Then again, another theory exists that people leave behind a sense of themselves. It could be my abilities as an empath picking up their residual emotions.

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-copyright Simon Sandall.