An Average Joe's Search For The Meaning Of Life

David Shaw sees himself as an Average Joe.

He grew up an average kid in an average neighbourhood in Ayrshire. Like many an Average Joe, he does ordinary things: goes to work, supports his local football team, puts the world to rights over a pint. But this Average Joe is anything but average. Styling himself ‘spiritcounsellor’, he shares with us an extraordinary journey through the twilight world.

Blessed with the ability to see and hear those who’ve passed on, and, helped by his spirit guides Black Hawk and Mr Chung, David shares with us his extraordinary story of receiving messages from the other side.

Here is an Average Joe – an ordinary man with an extraordinary story that will fascinate and intrigue.

DAVID SHAW lives in Ayrshire with his wife, son, Labrador and a houseful of ghosts. When he is not writing books and magazine articles, David works as a psychotherapist, hypnotherapist and Reiki healer. But his biggest passion is working with his spirit guides and connecting this world with the spirit dimension. His only real aspiration is to be accepted as an Average Joe, oh and to maybe see his favourite football team, Kilmarnock, actually win a game!

You can follow David on Facebook.com/spiritcounsellor & Twitter @sp_counsellor

An Average Joe’s Search for the Meaning of Life

David Shaw

Copyright

HQ

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2013

Copyright © David Shaw 2013

David Shaw asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

E-book Edition © December 2013 ISBN: 9781472055316

Version date: 2018-09-19

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my dear friend Cameron – rest in peace ‘Cammy’.

To everybody who has worked with me in a spiritual capacity, especially Donny, Mary, Tom and Linda.

To my family on the earth plane – Anne, Dylan, Mum and Dad, John and Margaret, Susan and Andrew, Laurel and Finlay.

To my family in spirit – Jim, Peggy, Andrew, Betty, and Margaret, and especially my grandfather Hamish, who I only knew briefly, but who has guided me throughout my adult life.

To my friends in spirit – especially Gordon and his illustrious spirit team, and the consciousness known collectively as SiBir.

To my guides – Black Hawk and Mr Chung.

To Victoria and everyone at HQ Digital who have supported this book.

To Dean Lewis for editorial expertise.

To author Carol Arnall for continual faith and encouragement.

And to you – my heartfelt thanks.

Contents

Cover

Blurb

Author Bio

Title Page

Copyright

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Endpages

About the Publisher

INTRODUCTION

I am just a guy who wrote a book. I’ve never been on television and, as far as I know, never slept with any footballers or pop stars. I haven’t climbed Kilimanjaro, and thankfully my parents weren’t sex beasts who liked to play ‘Dungeons and Dragons’.

So, who am I, and why would anybody even remotely consider reading about my life story? Well, I’m just an ‘Average Joe’ - a simple, ordinary Scotsman, who occasionally farts in the bath and may unthinkably leave the toilet seat up. Oh, but wait! Did I also mention that I’m a trance medium?

I guess I should have mentioned that earlier, but if I told you that I actively communicate with the spirit world through my smoke alarm then you would think I was a bit mental! By the same token, if I told you that there were a thousand voices in my head, all with a particular message for a grieving loved one, then you would exclaim: ‘Schizoid Freak’!

But that’s what happens to me every day and believe it or not I have become accustomed to this part of my life. I have accepted it and, thanks to my work through Trance Mediumship, I have more importantly come to understand it.

I witnessed many things whilst training to be a trance medium. I can vividly remember one particular medium take one single breath and holding it for over seven minutes – how can that be explained? I’ve also witnessed tables and chairs levitating up to the ceiling – while David Copperfield was nowhere in sight!

There is no doubt in my mind that the spirit world exists – I’ve had proof of that, but it is neither my job nor my intention to preach the virtues of spiritualism to you. I will only say that the spirit people who have kindly shared their wisdom through this publication are amongst the most knowledgeable people who have ever lived. In fact, I can guarantee that.

The fact that they have chosen to work with this little old ‘Average Joe’ is indeed an extremely humbling experience for me, for as I may have mentioned before – I am just a guy who wrote a book.

Chapter 1
EMILY ROSE – DEBT COLLECTOR

I could instinctively feel that there was someone or something behind the bedroom door. As it slowly opened, the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention like soldiers preparing for an almighty battle. Thankfully, a welcoming ray of brilliant white light slowly began to shine through the gap in the now ajar door, but it couldn’t disguise the fact that whatever was still lurking behind this door was evidently not of this earthly world.

Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to the time being displayed on the alarm clock beside the bed. It read 3am – the ‘witching hour’ – when all godless creatures were free to roam and pillage the frightened souls of the righteous.

Not surprisingly, I was now utterly terrified, and as I reluctantly awaited the perceived demon’s next move I suddenly decided that there was only one possible way out of this hellish nightmare. I tentatively reached down to the floor and grasped my only hope; a weapon that would surely send this monstrosity back to the world from which it originally came.

I slowly raised my weapon, my arm outstretched in front of me nervously holding this small rectangular box that held the power to almost certainly evaporate this foe, this unknown intruder, this curse from the dark side. Then with a devastating blow, I firmly pressed the big red standby button and sent this piece of Hollywood hokum to the trash bin.

Why, oh why, did I rent this utter nonsense from the DVD store? Oh yes – it’s apparently based on fact. Well, I’m sorry Emily Rose, but your exorcism surely won’t win any Oscars. Hands up those of you who thought there really was a demon in my room – shame on you both!

After carefully checking that my television set was now definitely switched off, I trudged upstairs to bed, still smirking at the audacity of the Hollywood filmmakers who consistently push this sort of material on the vulnerable and the naive. Not for me, a spirit medium with ‘bags’ more sense and knowledge, but who ultimately should have known better.

The film was still very much in my thoughts as I drifted off to sleep, albeit thankful in the knowledge that what I had just viewed was drastically over-exaggerated for the purpose of so-called entertainment!

When I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, sensing a strong spirit presence in my bedroom, I instinctively turned to view the time on my alarm clock – 2.59 am, but then quick as a flash it was 3am - the ‘witching hour’! I was up out of that bed faster than diarrhoea from a salmonella-fuelled bowel. My soldiers had once again loaded their guns and were about to recommence battle. But, oh my god – this time it was for real!

The commotion woke my wife, Anne, who then glared at me with that now familiar disgruntled look. ‘Ghosts in the house again, dear?’ she asked sarcastically. I nodded sheepishly before switching on my bedside lamp. A wry smile spread slowly over my face.

‘I’m being taught a lesson here,’ I thought to myself as I slowly climbed back into the virtual safety of my now lukewarm bed, before tentatively turning off the bedside lamp and belatedly asking my guides for spiritual protection.

Fortunately, I slept like a log for the remainder of the night, before waking up peacefully the next morning, yet still trying desperately to work out just what had transpired the previous night. I knew that I had almost certainly been crudely woken by spirit energy at the precise time of three o’clock in the morning, but I was also aware that this couldn’t have been the witching hour because there is no witching hour! Just as I also knew that Emily Rose was not possessed by the devil – there is no devil! I had simply been foolish enough to watch a film that could badly affect my energy and presumably my spirit workers were trying to prove a point – or were they?

So, what’s this got to do with the meaning of life, you may ask? Absolutely nothing whatsoever. It’s just a small insight into my world; a world where very little is ever coincidental, yet a world where nothing is ever really straightforward either. But it is a world that is frequently challenging, and rarely ever dull. It’s my world, but it could easily be your world. We’re all co-existing in various different cocoons of profound thoughts and experiences. But what does life really entail? Why are we here? What purpose do we serve? And, more importantly, just what is the true meaning of life? –the latter, being a simple question, but one that has baffled the greatest of minds for many centuries. But you and I are hopefully going to find out the answer!

In actual fact, I have been searching for the answer to this precarious question all my adult life and now I have been promised the answer. I have been unobtrusively instructed to write this book and all will be revealed in due course. Says who? Well, I will tell you very soon and then you can send for the men in white coats! Seriously though, don’t send for them just yet!

I would be deeply honoured if you would journey with me on this heroic quest and together we can hopefully find that purpose for which we live and breathe in this big, bad, wonderful world of ours. And who knows, if enough followers join us along the way then this book may go global and I can retire gracefully with a large yacht moored off my own private island. Or if we go straight to DVD then I can hopefully relax in the knowledge that maybe, just maybe, this publication could have changed someone’s life for the better. If that is the case then it truly will be job done!

First golden rule though, despite what I just stated about yachts and private islands – never judge a soul by what’s in their wallet; always by what’s in their heart. Now open up your heart and let love guide you on this fabulous journey that we are about to embark on. But saddle up; for it’s sure to be a bumpy ride!

Oh and incidentally, if you rather randomly picked up this book in the bargain bin – you know, the badly organised display in your local supermarket that usually contains books reduced to clear by ex-Big Brother ‘celebrities’ –then please don’t worry. You can still join the party – as long as you donate to charity the amount of money you invariably saved. If you don’t, then I’ll send round Emily Rose to do a bit of late-night debt collection!

Chapter 2
THE THREE WISE MEN

Before we go any further, I feel I should really introduce myself properly. After all we’ve been through already it’s only fitting that we should be appropriately acquainted.

My name is David Shaw, you can call me David, Dave, Davy, or by my professional name – Spiritcounsellor. When I say professional name, I really mean… Oh you know what I mean!

So, just who exactly am I? Well, I’m your stereotypical, run of the mill ‘Average Joe’, nothing more and nothing less. But, I’ve got a story to tell that will both shock and amaze you, and will hopefully leave you feeling that your own life has real purpose and value. For now though, this is the story of my life, and how I battled the demons within me in order to reveal my true destiny.

Well, if I’m going to tell you my life story, warts and all, then I must be as open and honest with you as I can possibly be. But before I begin this spiritual biography, there are a couple of people I must introduce to you – my two co-writers. Get the men in white coats ready!

But hold on, just before I introduce them to you, I must make a statement regarding the content of this book and who it should primarily be aimed at. This book is being compiled for everyone – not just spiritual people, not just those interested in the paranormal – but for everyone. I will give you the facts as I see and find them and the opinions expressed are entirely my own and should be judged by your own interpretation. Always remember that you must live your own life, and you alone have the right to make the decisions by which you will inevitably be judged.

Firstly, let me introduce ‘Mr Chung’. As the name might suggest, Mr Chung is from China. In fact he was born in China before becoming a Tibetan monk– wait for it – in the third Chinese Dynasty. Yes, he’s in spirit – a spirit guide in fact, who as far as I am aware has worked with me for about the last eight or nine years of my physical life. His wisdom is truly phenomenal and I feel extremely privileged to be working with him. Mr Chung will work ‘through me’ in order to deliver his words of wisdom. He will pop in from time to time and you will recognise his work by the philosophy that is given. If I were to give you a spirit reading, then Mr Chung would be in charge of the proceedings.

Secondly, I would like to introduce ‘Black Hawk’. Yes I know what you’re thinking – a Native American spirit guide and a Chinese monk! Who hasn’t got one of those? There is a good reason why these two spirits appear to me as they do. Simply put, they project an appearance of spirituality as Native Americans and Buddhist monks were, and indeed still are, extremely spiritual people. Both Black Hawk and Mr Chung undoubtedly lived many physical lives, but it is, as they appear to me now in this particular guise, that they were most at peace with their soul and spiritual self. Their appearance is not really that important – it’s their knowledge that is invaluable.

Mr Chung once told me that if you took the combined knowledge of all individuals living in the physical world today, it still would not compare to the universal knowledge attained by my two guides what a pair of bigheads!

So Black Hawk is a Native American, that much I know. But he’s a bit secretive about his past, and to be honest it’s totally irrelevant to me. All that really matters is that he has my respect and hopefully I will earn his. I know that Black Hawk has been with me all my physical life and for the spiritually minded – he is my ‘gatekeeper’.

A ‘gatekeeper’ is a kind of spiritual bodyguard. He protects me from negative energy in both the spiritual and physical worlds. Everybody has a ‘gatekeeper’ and we have all benefited from their presence at least once in our lives. You may have been walking down a dark alley one night and suddenly decided to turn back, sensing that something wasn’t quite right within the context of the road ahead. Your ‘gatekeeper’ will have warned you of impending danger. I can only presume that Emily Rose’s gatekeeper was down the pub!

Black Hawk has a distinct writing style. He will be direct and extremely informative about life in the spiritual realms. The information that I have received from Black Hawk has helped to shape the way I live my life today. It is true to say that without Black Hawk’s help I would not be alive in the physical world today – I will explain this later in the book.

So, just how is this going to work, three voices all sharing experiences and giving advice? It should hopefully work perfectly. You should realistically only notice a difference in the actual style of writing.

Let me explain. Can you recall the topical 1970s television programme That’s Life? Now, I appreciate if you are less than twenty years old, have only recently moved to the UK, or if, god forbid, we’ve gone global, then you will most likely be none the wiser – so I’ll explain further. That’s Life was a British television programme that dealt with serious news issues and also humorous side stories. There was also a section of the programme that gave out extremely valuable advice regarding health and relationship matters. Basically, it catered for the ups and down’s of life itself. My father used to hate the show because of the rather diverse content, but for most people the mix worked surprisingly well and the show was hugely popular.

A typical show would entail a report on the rising number of teenage pregnancies in Newcastle; we would then jump to the case of a rogue builder whose poorly constructed houses collapsed on top of disabled people, crushing them to death; and finally a talking dog from Barnsley who could say ‘sassages’ or sausages without the Yorkshire accent of course.

Well, retrospectively, Mr Chung would be reporting on the Geordie pregnancy scandal and dishing out contraceptive advice to all and sundry; Black Hawk would be warning against the perils of buying a house from ‘Bob the Bastard Builder’; and I, on the other hand, would be encouraging Barnsley’s pooch of the year to pop in to his local butcher and ask for two pounds of Cumberland’s finest!

I hope this makes some sort of sense. I work in what’s called a Trance Mode. This means that from time to time my guides will influence what I write. You’ll know when one of my guides begins to come through as the literary standard will more than likely improve and the spiritual information will become far more relevant, although I will profess that my guides don’t tend to have too much of a sense of humour!

But in my opinion life shouldn’t be all too serious. Emotions are what make the world go round, so let your emotions run free as we journey through the chapters and I promise you that the experience will be all that more special and personal to you.

Chapter 3
AYR UNITED, SOMERSET, PHOENIX…

I guess my first encounter with the spirit world began when I was around six years old. Psychotherapists will tell you that this is the age when most children start to have nightmares, and in my case – very real nightmares!

A typical nightmare would involve me wandering around a deserted street at night, before suddenly sensing impending danger around a dark corner. My instinct would tell me that I was about to be attacked and I would automatically start to run, and run, until eventually I would notice that I would simply be running on the spot. And no matter how hard I tried to move my legs they ultimately would not move – like two fence posts set in concrete.

At this point I would quickly close my eyes and subsequently find myself back in my bedroom. However, I would then hear someone or something slowly climbing the stairs of my house. Now terrified, I would quickly close my eyes again, imagining that they were glued shut for I knew that this intruder was anything but friendly. I also knew that I couldn’t stop this intruder coming into my room but I didn’t have to see him in the flesh. With my eyes tightly closed and my other senses working overtime, I would lie there in my bed virtually paralysed with fear. I would then hear the intruder’s distinctive, menacing breath as he presumably stood over me.

I found that my only method of escape was to suddenly free myself from this paralysis by opening my eyes quickly and shouting out aggressively, thus freeing myself from the restraints of this trance-like state. Thankfully this always did the trick and I would ultimately find myself back in my room and the menace would have gone.

I remember vividly one night when this particular situation occurred. Just after the intruder had left, I looked out of the bedroom door – the door was always left open with the hall light left on as I was terrified of the dark – and I suddenly visualised the outline of a large strangely dressed man. He had horns sticking out of his head – yes I know we’re back to Emily Rose again, but for some reason he didn’t seem quite as threatening as the previous visitor. Nevertheless, a man standing at the bottom of my bed with horns sticking out of his head – no thank you! Eyes tightly closed again, before quickly reopening them and thankfully finding myself back in my room.

I slowly perused my room and all seemed back to normal. This allowed my heart rate to settle down from ‘cardiac arrest stage’ to a more acceptable ‘about to jump out of an aeroplane in a parachute’ rate. I touched the bedroom wall – thankfully it was real, I was now back in the land of the living!

My mother wandered through to my room in a kind of half-awake, half-asleep state and asked if I’d been dreaming. I was just about to mention monster number one when she exclaimed, ‘It’s just another nightmare, go back to sleep.’ I began to relax; strangely comforted in the fact that it must have been a bad dream sure enough, yet why did I wake up in the middle of what seemed like another bad dream? Maybe this happened to everybody, I didn’t know. Maybe just as well!

It wasn’t until many years later whilst being trained as a spirit medium that I was informed by people ‘in the know’ that what I had experienced was in fact a ‘spirit attack’. Furthermore, I needed to protect myself from further attacks. But how do you protect yourself when you’re asleep? I was confused, I’m pretty sure you are too at this point! I was told that I needed to say a prayer of protection that would enable my spirit guides to protect me, thus closing down all other spiritual activity around me.

As a teenager I had partly managed to control the ‘bad dreams’. These dreams were fairly sporadic from the age of about seven onwards. I would estimate that they occurred maybe once or twice a month. And yes they were horrific – you’ve got absolutely no idea! But I felt that my imagination was creating the dreams – not demons or ghosts. I was scared of ghosts, just like any other child. I used to hear the occasional footsteps walking up my staircase early in the morning, but the culprit seemed friendly and never came into my room to frighten the living daylights out of me.

I can vividly recall one night when I must have been about fourteen years old and I could sense someone or something in my room. It was around midnight and I was definitely awake and fully conscious, when all of a sudden I heard a voice emanating from somewhere inside my head – it felt as though I was actually talking to myself.

The voice said, ‘If you think of happy, enjoyable things, then you will relax.’ As quick as a flash I began to think of what made me happy, what I enjoyed most. I loved football; my favourite team being Kilmarnock, or Killie as they’re more popularly known, and our bitter rivals were another local team – Ayr United. I thought about Killie playing Ayr United, but it had to be an away game…Ayr United at their own turf – Somerset Park!

Surprisingly, I began to relax; the fear had temporarily subsided. But hang on – I could still sense someone in the room. What else did I like? I loved video games; my favourite being a game in my local amusement arcade called Phoenix. I imagined I was playing Phoenix and again I began to relax. It was working. ‘Ayr United, Somerset, Phoenix,’ I murmured to myself. I repeated it and it felt weirdly comforting. I then repeated the strange chant sixteen times, my favourite number was four – four times four being the ultimate protection!

My prayer of protection was now set in stone. It was a mixture of complete and utter mumblings, which made absolutely no sense to man or beast. But, you know what? It worked! The bad dreams stopped, just as long as I remembered my bedtime prayer. I can recall a few occasions when I forgot my prayer, God knows why, and of course my bad dreams would return and I would subsequently realise why.

I still presently say ‘Ayr United, Somerset, Phoenix’ each night before going to sleep. I’ve often thought of updating to ‘Big boobs, Budweiser, Sky Sports’, but that would just be plain silly! However, I am now aware that it’s not just simply bad dreams but very real experiences.

I can recall one other night not too long ago when I had one of these ‘experiences’. By now I knew exactly who was attacking me as I had previously plucked up the courage to look at him. I awoke suddenly as I usually did and my wife Anne was already awake and staring into space. Her eyes had a distinct look of disbelief and I calmly asked her if she was OK. She turned to face me, the pupils of her eyes still bulging from the sockets. ‘I saw someone standing over you,’ she whispered. I quickly told her not to worry about it and that we should just go back to sleep.

The next morning we discussed the previous night’s traumatic event. I asked Anne if the person she saw was dressed as an eighteenth century gentleman with long dark hair and a beard. She again looked at me with those disbelieving eyes, before reluctantly nodding in agreement. It was time to sort out this menace once and for all. He was about to get a taste of his own medicine. I will tell you later just how I dealt with this character. Oh, and if you happen to be wondering about the man with the horns sticking out of his head, well he is in fact an American Indian Medicine Man. I wonder who that could be!

The rest of my childhood was ironically pretty normal for a lad growing up in Kilmarnock. As I mentioned earlier, I supported Kilmarnock, but being only twenty miles from Glasgow, most of my friends supported Rangers or Celtic. Kilmarnock was a major industrial town in the seventies and industry attracted workers seeking good affordable housing away from the big city. My friends were all from Glasgow and being either ‘one side of the religious fence or the other’ it was very much a love-hate relationship for most of us – especially for the Killie fan stuck in the middle.

However, there was a great camaraderie between all the families living in my housing estate. There were no two-car families, most households had only one parent working as far as I know, and everybody rented their house from the local council. But they were good times as the 1970s were a relatively peaceful decade. There were no organised gangs roaming the streets, yet the kids were far tougher than they are nowadays. Adults could walk the streets at night without fear of being assaulted or even killed – yet the standard of living was much lower than it is today.

When I used to perform spirit readings, very often spirits would visually come through to me dressed in the style of the seventies. You know – long hair, flared trousers, hideous floral patterned garments etc. Spirits will always try to convey a loving, peaceful scenario when making contact. They certainly wouldn’t wish to show themselves when they were ill, depressed or having their £250,000 house repossessed!

Of course, society has changed immensely since the seventies. The cost of living is now so much cheaper and with the technological boom we can easily purchase amazing consumer products that would have seemed totally inconceivable in the 1970s. We can easily travel to luxurious foreign destinations, we can affordably run one or more cars per family, and we can even contemplate private health care and send our children to private education. We may even own several properties since banks and building societies will now lend you 95 times your annual wage, top it up by £50,000 per child, add £25,000 if your surname ends in ‘Y’ and give you a fantastic interest rate of only 5 per cent, provided you take out their home insurance and multiple credit card facility.

So why is the world an unhappy place? Why are people killing each other over a disputed parking space? Why are we injecting ourselves with mind-altering substances when a bottle of cider costs less than a bag of four apples?

I think we all know the answers to these questions, but unfortunately we’re afraid to admit the truth. The reason is that we are actually all guilty in some way of allowing this situation to arise. We are all greedy of wanting more for our families and for ourselves. We work over forty hours per week and then have the audacity to complain when we feel absolutely exhausted. We don’t allow ourselves time to unwind, or time to enjoy what free time we have. We sit in front of a television set watching news documentaries and reality shows that paint a morally disturbing picture of how our world is developing, yet we do nothing about it apart from moan.