Derek Acorah’s Amazing Psychic Stories. Derek Acorah

the feathers, as they’d most probably think I was oversensitive and losing the plot a bit, I firmly believe that the significance of the feathers in my life was to let me know I wasn’t alone and to give me strength for the tough times that were to come, to comfort me with the knowledge that my dad hasn’t left me and is being looked after in spirit. The feathers did not protect me from or stop any of the pain and difficulties that were to enter my life, but I am sure my ability to cope would have been much less without them. I believe that my feeling that the angels had given me a sign made me think about things more spiritually and allowed me to put my difficulties much more in perspective in relation to the bigger picture of human existence. All of us have difficult times in our lives, some more so than others, but I feel it is how we choose to deal with the difficulties that teaches us the lessons we need to learn. For this I am eternally grateful to the angels for their interaction in my life.’

      I could not have put it better myself!

      Of course the arrival of a white feather is not necessarily a sign that there is an angel around. I recall sitting in the passenger seat of my vehicle one day whilst Ray Rodaway, my tour manager, was driving me to a theatre venue in the south of England. We had been travelling for a couple of hours or more and had decided to stop at a motorway service station. It was a very cold day so we both put on our jackets prior to leaving the vehicle.

      We returned to the car approximately half an hour later and took to the road once more. We had been travelling for no more than a few minutes when I heard Ray say, ‘Aye, Ackers! You know what you were saying about angels – when there’s one about you sometimes see a white feather?’

      I nodded.

      ‘Well,’ Ray continued, ‘I think there must be one about now because a white feather’s just drifted down from the roof of the car. You don’t think we’re being warned that we’re about to have an accident, do you?’

      I looked at Ray sharply but could see from his expression that he was really very serious. In fact he looked rather nervous. And sure enough, when I looked at the dashboard of the car, there sat a small white feather.

      As I looked in Ray’s direction again I could see a small pinprick of white sticking through the outer material of his jacket. I pulled it and out popped a small white feather.

      ‘No, Ray,’ I said dryly, ‘there aren’t any angels around just now. The only feathers being shed at the moment are by you and your duvet jacket!’

      An expression of relief spread across Ray’s face, followed quickly by one of embarrassment. ‘Don’t tell anybody about it, will you, Ackers?’ he said.

      By this time I was convulsed with laughter. ‘Oh, Rods! This one is too good not to share!’

       CHAPTER 3

       Following Our Destiny

      Guardian angels, spirit guides and family members in spirit do not of course reserve the right to make their presence felt in our lives only when we are in mortal danger or when we need reassurance. Our guides and guardians are designated to us at birth to ensure that we conduct our lives in the manner chosen by us prior to our incarnation into this physical life. Because we have free will, our God-given right, we may put ourselves in danger of choosing the wrong pathway and veering away from our chosen life’s experience, and it is the job of our guardians and guides to make sure that we do not stray.

      My own life is the perfect example of somebody who started off on one pathway only to be forced some years later to meet my destiny – just as my grandmother had foretold many years previously.

      The one aim in my life when I was a child was to become a professional footballer. If anybody asked me what I was going to do when I grew up, my answer would always be: ‘Play football for Liverpool!’ If pressed to consider another possibility, I might reluctantly say that being a train driver might be interesting, but I never seriously considered it. I had my heart set on playing football.

      Throughout my childhood I experienced proof of the existence of a spirit world and I had been told by my grandmother that I would follow in her footsteps and work for spirit by one day becoming a medium. However, I had proclaimed that I didn’t want to ‘be a gook’ and privately had pooh-poohed the idea. I did not question that there was a world beyond and that people came from that world into our world and mingled with us just as they had when they were in their physical lives – I had received more than enough proof of that – but I did not want to work with those spirit people. I wanted to be a footballer!

      Finally my ambitions were fulfilled – I was signed at 15 years of age as an apprentice professional footballer with Liverpool Football Club. Gleefully I would tell my mother, ‘Gran was wrong! Look! I’m a footballer!’

      What I did not know at that time was that although my ambition was being fulfilled, my ultimate destiny would still have to be met. Before incarnating into this physical life I had made a promise and that promise had to be kept.

      I was allowed a certain amount of success as a footballer, but did not achieve the standard that I wished. My footballing career came to an end at a relatively early age and I was left with no choice but to follow the pathway that was meant for me – the pathway that I myself had chosen whilst still resident in the world of spirit prior to my incarnation here. As my grandmother had foreseen and as I myself had promised, I would become a worker for spirit – a medium – and a medium I became! It was my destiny!

      I had reason to be talking to a young man in his thirties one day. I will respect his wish to remain anonymous and will merely call him ‘David’. His story is one where spirit, rather than working in mysterious ways, brought this young man to the realization that he was on the wrong pathway rather abruptly.

      David’s story began in one of the poorer areas of Liverpool. He was the youngest of three brothers in a family which was not very well off at all. In fact most of the time money was very tight indeed. David’s mother and father both worked when there was work available and consequently were away from the family home most of the day. David and his brothers were left to a great extent to fend for themselves. Boys will be boys, and in their harsh environment it was not long before David was playing truant. Time went by and his appearances at school became less and less frequent. By the time David was 14 years of age he rarely attended school at all. He was a tall well-built lad who appeared older than he was, and eventually he became part of a group of teenagers who were known as ‘no goods’ in the area. If ever there was trouble David would be there in the thick of things. Stealing cars and joy-riding were activities that took place on a weekly basis. David thought there was nothing like the excitement of stealing a car with his mates and driving to Southport at high speed. On one such occasion the car he was in careered off the road and ended up in a field. David and his friend were badly cut and bruised – they were fortunate to escape with their lives.

      By the time David was 15 he was well known to the local police and had been in court on numerous occasions. The day eventually arrived when he was sent away to a correctional institution for a number of months. When he was released he merely picked up his old lifestyle, but now with the reputation of being a really bad lad.

      One day, however, things changed dramatically.

      ‘It was really strange, Derek,’ David told me. ‘I was walking along with me mate, just talking about this and that and planning our next bit of mischief, when I suddenly felt a really hard slap to the side of my head. It really hurt. I looked at my friend and said, “What was that for?” I was just about to fetch him one back when I realized that he couldn’t have done it because he was too far away from me. He’d stopped to light a ciggie and I’d carried on walking, so he was a few yards away.

      ‘We carried on towards