Please
examine these many Photos taken of New Orleans
French Quarter Balconies and see if you
spot a actual New Orleans ghost.
The lacy, wrought
iron balconies overlooking the narrow streets
of the New Orleans French Quarter are evocative
of another time, another place and they are
among some of the most photographed attractions
in the City.
Tourists who
flock to the French Quarter every year bring
back memories in the photographs they take.
But can it be possible that more is developing
in those photos than meets the naked eye?
Famous psychic
ghost hunter, Mickey of Miami says, "possibly
these haunted balcony images contain proof
of spirit activity in the old haunted Vieux
Carre". And she asks that others not
only check their pictures, but a full investigation
should start right away.
Several seasoned
tourists have been startled to see appearing
in their vacation photographs the amorphous,
wispy images of otherworldly inhabitants taking
in the passing parade of the old city from
a balcony view.
Many photos
containing anomalies peculiar to the New Orleans
balcony have been submitted for review and
on first inspection it is easy to dismiss
some of the images as haze or sunlight on
the lens. But taking a closer look often uncovers
a mysterious resonance in the photos - as
if the images are the imprints of city dwellers
that have gone on long before.
The balconies
of New Orleans have seen a lot in their centuries
of grandeur. Most of them are made of wrought
iron in a process that precedes the age of
factory production; the iron was literally
scored and hammered by hand, and much of the
energy of the artist still seems to linger
on in the iron’s strength and endurance.
Can it be possible that some blacksmiths continue
to be proud of their work from beyond the
grave?
The balconies
sometimes form a fairy like ring around homes
and apartments that are alive and bustling
with life above the French Quarter streets.
There have been stories told of residents
seeing old friends waving to them from a balcony,
only to learn later that day that their friend
had passed and the greeting they received
was from the other side!
Families enjoying
Mardi Gras festivities have reported being
accompanied, sometimes all night, by mysterious
visitors that no one seemed to immediately
recognized. The visitors, never confronted
by residents who think them merely more friends
of friends out to enjoy the scene, sometimes
join in throwing beads to the crowds below
or drinking and having a good time. But later
that night or the next morning no one seems
to recall inviting the “guest”
or can tell who the ghostly visitor might
have been.
Some balconies
surmount tall poles that are topped with grim
spikes. These are called Bachelor’s
Spikes, or Bear Claws and they were designed
into the poles and balconies to keep ardent
suitors from the French windows of the fair
Creole maids. Occasionally, a daring bachelor,
perhaps with passion burning too fervently
in his chest, would try to brave the grappling
spikes. There are many reports of suitors
receiving fatal wounds from the balcony spikes.
Can it be that some have come back to repeat
the act over and over throughout eternity?
So the next
time you visit New Orleans, as you walk through
the bustling streets and quaint alleys of
the old Quarter, remember to look up and wave.
You might just be greeting a visitor from
the past, a revenant spirit from another domain!
