St. Augustine, Florida is known for its lingering spirits. The best way to experience them is through a evening walking tour, complete with haunted schoolhouses and cemeteries!
I decided to take the walking tour offered by A Ghostly Experience. They claim to tell stories from actual records. "All of our stories are researched through records from historical libraries, church documents, personal diaries and personal interview. Nothing is made up, and no artificial special effects are used during the tour. If you see something while out there, you'll know it's real!"
I have to say, it was an exceptionally good tour. Our guide led us throughout the old city. More important, I personally had an experience at the Castillo. More on that later.
Interestingly, they claim to have very few "wayward" or "lost" spirits in St. Augustine. This is because a Catholic Priest, who did not want people profiting from this phenomenon, found and elevated these spirits. Let me explain, wayward spirits are those that have not accepted their deaths. Usually, the wayward spirit comes from a person who has died in a tragic and sudden way. The theory is that the highly charged emotional nature of their energy is too connected to a strong desire on the physical world - so that their consciousness is too consumed with anger, fear, longing, etc. and cannot 'relax' enough to see their way home. Murders often create stories of wayward spirits bent on revenge. Those that have died waiting for a loved one to return will continue to wait in their old house, often meddling with the new owners. Wayward spirits can often create mischief or mishaps because of their intense energy.
(For an excellent series of accounts on elevating wayward spirits, I suggest a book by Mary Summer Rain called Phantoms Afoot, an excellent series of adventures about a couple's attempts at "Helping the Spirits Among Us" to find their way home.)
St. Augustine guides claim that their spirits are of the type that choose to return and wander around. The theory states that some spirits, after going to the next realm, may choose to return to the physical world as if they still have a body. They are considered friendly in that they are not bent on causing problems.
People claim to see a young girl appearing at the old entry gates into town, at a certain time after midnight. They all claim she is standing at the gates and waiving at the passing cars. Legend has it that this girl was a daughter of a famous gatekeeper and wanted to grow up to be just like her daddy. She died before she had that wish. Now, she watches the gate in spirit form. There is also a lawyer that used to walk the cemetary in his life. Now, he continues to walk the area, enjoying the sites.
Also, St. Augustine has a rich and sordid history, especially when it comes to slavery, war and disease. These types of events often cause energetic moments that become imprinted into space. People claim to see what looks like real people, dressed in old-fashioned costumes, reenacting events in history.
For example, at the Castillo de San Marcos, there were 3 soldiers that died while firing a cannon. Many see these three men, fully dressed in colonial militia garb, at the top of the garrison loading the cannon, as if there are actors reenacting some event. (Note: They won't talk about these soldiers on the Castillo tour. You will have to take the walking Ghost Tour in order to hear this story.)
When we were approaching the Castillo, I personally 'felt' some movement above and looked up, right at the cannon. 2 minutes later, our guide was telling us the story of the 3 militia men and pointed to the very same cannon that had caught my eye! Unlike wayward spirits, the St. Augustine guides claim that these phenomenon are merely imprinted energy, so strong, that it can be seen by the naked eye, for an instant and only at certain times.
Whether or not you 'believe' in spirits is not important. Everyone likes a ghost story... at night... right outside an old cemetery!
