No Such Thing?
Who you gonna call? In Las Cruces, if you have ghosts that need busting, it's "Marty" Turner. We unleash her psychic powers on the haunted Fountain Theatre.
By Jeff Berg
Many things not accepted in mainstream society often will have a bad reputation formed by fairy tale, ignorance and television news . . . . Well, at least the first two are always true.
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Martha "Marty" Turner says one day in 1974
she simply woke up with psychic abilities. |
Take some of our fellow desert denizens as examples. Rattlesnakes? Sure, they bite, but most times that only happens when provoked. Tarantulas? Pure fallacy that they suck out the brains of babies. How about the harmless but cool vinegaroon? If looks could kill . . . .
Witches? First mental image for many of you is probably warts, brooms and pointy hats. (You know those orange cones that dot the streets and byways of New Mexico? Those are actually psychedelic witches buried in asphalt.)
Chupacabras, yetis, Roswell. . . the list is endless. Most of these unknown or little known entities are designed to scare the bejesus out of us.
Then there are ghosts. And that's where Martha "Marty" Turner comes in.
People like Turner appreciate learning about the unknown. Among her many and varied skills, which mostly fall under the category of alternative healing methods. is her self-proclaimed ability to visit with ghosts. "Spirits," if you will.
Marty Turner is a real-life ghost buster.
From the Boston area originally, Turner came to New Mexico in 1996, after an intuitive notion came to her saying that she should move to the Southwest. "It first came to me, the guidance, that I need to move south of Albuquerque after I had been in Santa Fe for about 10 months" she says.
Her move to Las Cruces took place in August 1999. For a time she owned the Heart of the Dove store here, but now shares her skills on a more personal level by offering classes in the metaphysical and working one-on-one with perspective clients.
Most of Turner's work since arriving in New Mexico has revolved around her various metaphysical interests and skills, tempered by her "I Am" philosophy. She describes this as being "presence based." Sort of like being here, now.
One day in 1974, Turner says, she simply woke up with psychic abilities. That development didn't come as much of a surprise to her, at least not as much as it might to you or me, since she says her mother and father are also psychic. So it runs in the family.
Since her own psychic abilities manifested themselves, Turner claims, a channeled spirit named Hiliaron has been guiding her. "Hiliaron teaches me metaphysical and spiritual laws," she says matter-of-factly.
Although she's been psychic since 1974, she adds, "The bulk of my work and training has taken place since 1995." That's when she began to incorporate her abilities into a healing "modality." According to her Web site at www.heartofthedove.net, "She is the channel for Matrix Pattern Restructuring (MPR), In-Line Balancing and Spontaneous Cellular Release healing modalities."
I ask Turner about these various forms of metaphysical activity. She replies, "It's all really about intention. If someone has the desire to do it and is open to receive it, and they have the ability to give it, then it is probably true. If the person is true to their profession and does it with integrity, then it is probably true. It is just an exchange of energy.
"More and more people are becoming intuitive (or perhaps learning to use their intuitive skills). So, they won't be locked in, and will be able to 'open the veil' to see beyond our material world."
Turner's work with ghosts has led her to understand that ghosts are a sort of spiritualized version of a lost soul. "The ghosts that I have met have known of my psychic abilities," she explains. "Most times when they talk to me, they are asking for help. They are looking for help or want a way 'out.'"
She elaborates, "They are souls who are stuck in this dimension — disembodied beings that are sometimes stuck here by past trauma and are ready to move on."
Hence, a "haunting" might be described as an effort by a spiritual being to let us, or a medium, know that he or she is stuck in this dimension, and is ready to move on to whatever is next. This can happen because of an emotional tie that the being does not understand, or perhaps the ultimate form of denial — not knowing that the being is indeed dead, because of misinformation given them about the "etheric" world. Indeed, it would seem that ghosts are lonely.
When she lived in Massachusetts, Turner was sometimes called upon to help with missing people or murder cases. "As a psychic medium, you can hear from the other side," she explains. "They (spirits) know that, and can respond to it."
So, I ask, just what is "the other side"?
Turner ponders this for a couple of moments before replying, "It is a consciousness that is not as dense as ours (on 'this' side) — it is a lighter version, you might say, that appears to be the same as where we are, but visually, it looks like it is covered with a veil."
So, I wonder, if Turner can sometimes see spirits dwelling on "the other side," can they be photographed? "Yes, it is possible to photograph spirits," she says. "A good resource for that is Dr. Hans Holzer." Holzer is an Austrian-based parapsychologist who has written over 100 books on the subject, along with being involved in numerous documentaries, television shows and even plays and musicals.
She adds that she is still in contact with her father, who passed away a few years ago and is now on that "other side." "He is in a peaceful space," Turner notes. "He talks to me the same way he did when he was alive."
Her mother, who also lives in Las Cruces, still hears from her late husband, too. Indeed, Marty Turner just recently visited with her mother, and she says with a smile that her mom reports, "I just talked to him!"
But not all spirits are as friendly as dearly departed Dad. Turner relates a story about a time in New Hampshire that a friend asked her to meet with a friend of hers at a real estate office:
"I walked into the office, and a window opened, and a being came inside. He identified himself as 'Beezel' (or something similar to the name given to Satan's right hand 'demon').
"I thought this would be a bad haunting before I got there, and it was. He was very violent and followed me down a hallway, where I ran into a wall of energy. I told it that I wanted to help the woman's soul (the one she had come to help), and he said that I could not have it. It split in half, and the two energies were fighting on a beam near the ceiling. It made itself look grotesque, and one energy kept saying that I couldn't have her soul. After about an hour and a half, it left through the window, knocking over a number of things before it left."
Turner claims that ghosts can follow people, and apparently this bad spirit was from the troubled woman's emotional past. "He definitely wanted her soul, and we thought about calling for help from an exorcist, but the woman moved away before we could do anything else."
She adds, "I also wanted to call in some other psychics, since I wasn't very experienced at that time, and probably shouldn't have tried to do that by myself. I almost quit (ghostbusting) after that."
On a sultry summer evening, I invite Turner to "ghostbust" the 102-year-old Fountain Theatre in Mesilla. During the past several years, as I have volunteered at the theater, several people have mentioned stories that the theater had a ghost or two residing within. Others merely thought there could be a spiritual presence in the old building, especially when they found out that it stood on a site that was once a barracks for Confederate soldiers bivouacked in Mesilla during the Civil War. Who is to know if a wounded or sick soldier or two passed on while stationed here?
With Turner for this hopefully definitive ghostbusting-or at least ghost-investigating — is Sharon Eck, who is kind of an apprentice psychic sidekick, learning to enhance and use her intuitive skills from Turner.
It is about 5 p.m. when Turner and Eck meet me at the old adobe building. They look like just a pair of ordinary women, and I sadly banish from my thoughts any idea of the goofy gear worn by Bill Murray and company in the Ghostbusters movie. This is the first visit to the tiny theater for both Turner and Eck.
Turner slips off her sandals and walks slowly down an aisle, gentle touching the old adobe wall, which is adorned with an almost-100-year-old mural. She stops briefly now and then, but does not say a word as she slides her hand down the wall, up and down, on occasion.
She takes a seat near the front of the theater for about 10 minutes. Then she walks up the other main aisle of the theater, once again running her hand along the wall.
"There are two spirits that pass through here. But neither actually lives here. They live in the whole block," Turner announces.
The block that houses the Fountain Theatre also contains the La Posta restaurant and some apartments immediately to the south of the theater. These date from the 1860s, while the theater was built probably in the 1870s or later.
"One is an old, old Native American spirit," she continues. "He (one of the spirits) wouldn't talk much, but did say that at one time there were a lot of fights here. Maybe 'guy stuff.'
"The other (spirit) is a woman. I can see her. She is short and rather full-figured. She was here before the soldiers came, but also kind of took care of them while they were here. She won't leave now, because she feels that she is the caretaker of the block.
"She said that across the street. . ." Turner stumbles on the thought for a moment, but then goes on, ". . . there was a place where she (the ghost) watched over some girls — possibly a bordello. She is kind of a caregiver or mother figure."
Hence, I volunteer, perhaps the desire to stay and "take care" of the block?
Tucker adds, "She also said to me, 'Ah, dearie, don't take things so seriously. This street was always alive and buzzing and active.'
"There is lots of energy in this building. By touching the wall, sometimes it is possible to learn through the 'history' that is here. Sometimes you can then see the spirits."
Turner, and later Eck, are both amazed at the lack of any type of negative energy within the old theater. "I am really surprised at that," Turner says. "That also means that she (the woman ghost) is not doing a haunting. She knows why she is here, and so does the native man, who I recognized as an elder before he took off. This place has an angelic presence; it feels very protected. She is the caretaker of the theater."
Both women stand quietly and soak in the good vibes of the Fountain, which indeed has been nothing if not a purveyor of entertainment for the better part of its 100 year history.
I ask Turner what she has to do to prepare for a "ghostbusting."
"I protect myself with 'shields,' but mostly I just keep my consciousness open so I can hear and feel and be receptive," she answers. "I just sit and ask, and if there is a being that wants to communicate, I will sometimes see them. But they often disappear soon. Mostly it is just a matter of leaving yourself open and going with the flow.
"If it is a negative energy, than I will work with it to make it leave. I didn't feel any energy from soldiers here, which I thought I would."
Both woman fall silent again, and appear to be soaking up more of the positive flow that apparently envelops them.
I think a bit about the lack of attendance for movies screened here that may have a dark theme or be violent in some way. The Mesilla Valley Film Society does not often show films with a negative story, but when they do, the attendance drops, and the complaints rise.
"That's not what people are seeking when they come here," Turner explains. "They want to feel good when they come to this place. It is a safe haven and a good vortex of energy for old Mesilla."
I wonder about Turner's earlier comment about ghosts sometimes following certain people. But since the two gentle spirits that live around the Fountain Theatre have opted to make it their permanent residence, presumably they do not follow us out. Do they?
The Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary describes "ghosts," in general, as a "living presence (energy) which is using a confused soul-mind, a discarnate entity floating in the etheric."
A "confused soul-mind" — that kind of illustrates how I feel as Martha Turner drives away.
No such thing as ghosts? Who says so?
Contact Martha Turner at 526-6704. She also maintains a frequently updated Web site that lists upcoming classes and opportunities at www.heartofthedove.net.
Senior Writer Jeff Berg goes bump in the night when
he trips over the dog
on his way to the bathroom.