Investigating Gettysburg I: Rescuing Soldiers

Yesterday was quite an eventful day. I had been told by my guides that I had work to do at Gettsyburg, and it was related to a friend and fellow investigator Paul. Evidently he lived one of his past lives as a Sargent in the Union Cavalry, and fought not only at Gettysburg but also Antietam. I was also instructed to bring along Emily and that as part of the trip, she would discover some more of her abilities. Knowing we'd be investigating well into the night, we set out around 2 pm to drive up and explore the battlefields. 

    I didn't know much about what I was supposed to do beyond finding about a dozen soldiers from Sgt. Jones's brigade, and that they were to be found around a huge pile of rocks. Since Paul had been to the field many times, he planned our route through the park and navigated. We started our tour at Little Round Top. Paul picked this spot because I told him I had to find a big pile of rocks. As a brief interjection, I have to say as someone who is sensitive that Gettsyburg is incredibly dense with energy. This should surprise no one given what occurred on the grounds. I was overwhelmed almost immediately and had to 'dial back' my openness. I dialed it back just enough so that I didn't get swamped, but still have it allow me to still sense active energies wherever we went. That didn't take long. On our walk up the hill to Little Round Top, I immediately encountered a soldier in need of rescuing. Half his face was blown off. His visage was so startling that I didn't even notice what kind of uniform he was wearing. I went to work engaging AA Michael to open a portal to let this man cross into the spirit realm. I also asked that the portal be left open for a bit for anyone else who might want to make the journey. 

Once we got to the top of Little Round Top, it became clear that the soldiers I needed to find weren't there. But it did provide an excellent vantage point to see a large portion of the battlefields. Everywhere I looked I saw the bodies of dead civil war soldiers. Thousands upon thousands of bodies lay strewn across the fields. We explored the monuments and rocks around the site and made our way over to the 44th New York monument. You can reach an observation platform in the monument via a narrow spiral staircase. As soon as I entered the alcove of the monument to get to the stairs, I sensed 3 spirits hanging about. They weren't interested in engaging with me, so I let them be. From the platform atop the monument, I spotted the Devil's Den formation. Aha! That was the vision I was given of a big pile of rocks. I knew right then that I would find the soldiers I was looking for there. 

We left Little Round Top and made our way over to Devil's Den. Being a Saturday with nice weather, parking was scarce. Driving up the road toward the top of the formation, Emily became distracted by a farmhouse off in the distance. I was too busy driving to notice, but she would point it out to me as we made our way among the rocks. Sitting at the top of the hill above Devils' Den is a beautiful old poplar witness tree. The first thing I did after I parked the car was to walk over and greet the tree. What a beautiful spirit. After asking permission to touch her, I gently put my hands on her. She showed me men in combat in close quarters. Stabbing with bayonets, hitting one another in faces with the butt end of their rifles. The battles here were brutal. I'm surprised I wasn't more disturbed by the images of battle and violence I saw here on the grounds - I'm usually pretty sensitive to violence - but I think it was just so much a part of the history that it didn't really phase me. 

    I thanked the tree for her sharing her knowledge, and sat down on some rocks across the road from several cannons. The soldiers I was meant to rescue showed up as a group. There were about 14 union soldiers from Sgt. Jones' group and a half dozen or so confederate soldiers. As they were in life, they were separated from one another and not interacting.  Once again I called upon AA Michael for assistance in opening a portal to enable these soldiers to cross into the spirit realm. Unsurprisingly, this portal was rather large, and it sat atop the rocks at Devil's Den. Since there was a group, I did not engage an individual spirit to discuss what it was that should happen. This was my mistake. The soldiers stood around for quite some time - perhaps confused or unsure about what it was they were supposed to be doing. I saw them congregate, and presumably discuss their next steps. It took several minutes before they all decided it was safe enough to enter the portal. Seems the confederate soldiers had the same sense, as they also didn't immediately enter the portal. Another lesson learned for my spiritual work. The next time I encounter a group like that, especially one that has been around awhile, I will ask for a spokesman and then engage them in what they are seeing. I mean think about it. One minute you're fighting for your literal life. The next, you're stranded among the pile of rocks where you took your last breath on this planet. Then a woman you've never met before appears and this giant hole opens up through which you can see faces of family and friends who you predeceased. I imagine it's quite confusing. The business of soldier rescue accomplished, I took the time to walk among the rocks. 

Emily and I walked down a path that was laid next to the rock outcrop, and again she spotted the house that caught her attention on the drive up to the top. She sat down on a flat portion of the rock and invited me to sit with her. I climbed up and found a seat next to her, at which point she pointed out the house. "Mom, do you see that house down there?" Yes, I replied. "Do you see anything?" As I directed my gaze down the hill, I indeed saw someone standing in the door of the house looking out from the inside. "What about that middle window there?" Emily asked. "You mean the door? Yes, I see it. There's someone standing in it on the inside, looking out." Just learning about her gifts, Emily is still under-confident in her abilities. On our drive home she asked me what her 'new' abilities were that were revealed. I had forgotten that she already had the ability to see into the spirit world, having seen evidence of Elizabeth at Linville Manor. "Well, your attention was drawn to that farmhouse (it's the Slyder Farm for reference). When you asked me if I could sense it, my answer was no. I'm sensitive to energies, and that was too far away from me to be able to sense it. However you were instinctively drawn to it to the point that you felt compelled to sit down and draw it. That's your gift." This ability was also on display when we went into town for dinner. She spied another house that had a resident, of which I was completely unaware until she called it out. Granted we were close enough for me to be able to sense it had I not turned down my sensitivity to prevent overwhelm. Having explored Devil's Den and accomplished what I was called to do, we decided to move on to another part of the park.