Market Ghost Tours

I got a call about Benaroya Hall, located in downtown Seattle. An attendee at a performance there felt very strongly that there was a presence, a spirit, in the theater, a young man who was aimless and confused. He seemed to be stuck there. What is striking for me when I get these types of calls are the emotions the witness describes coming off of the spirit they have seen. It has made me wonder often about our abilities to discern energetic emotion from others, living and dead. Working as a healer, I often feel the energetic body in the Reiki work I do, so it doesn't surprise me that people feel  the emotions of spirits. In fact, I am beginning to believe that is the most prominent way that people "see" ghosts. On the tours people ask often about "seeing" ghosts and what ghosts are. Those are the toughest questions I get. I do have answers but they took me years of research and a great deal of faith to come up with. My first response is always to tell someone to do the same, research and decide what they believe. I won't go into what I believe here, it is a big subject and it's in the book that I am working on now. Back to Benaroya Hall....

Benaroya Hall is located on the site that was originally part of the University of Washington. The hillside it is on has been regraded and the University moved. In 1861, when the University opened it's doors, there were no students in Seattle. Seattle was a working man's town and a town going through tremendous growth and transition. Men were coming here hoping to get rich. Doc Maynard had offered land to anyone who wanted it at low prices if within 90 days they could build a business on the land. It was a boom and bust town. The University was empty. To persuade students to come to Seattle, the University actually paid working men to pose as students and they took pictures of these "students" in order to advertise. In one picture a man in seen reading a book, the book is upside down. My initial feeling about this spirit is that it is tied to this time period. Downtown Seattle is full of these young men who are trapped: gold miners, fisherman, lumber workers, con artists, tradesmen. I am still doing the research to find out who he could be. That is the other interesting part about telling ghost stories, many audience members or tour goers, think ghosts are spirits trapped because of a traumatic event. History itself, especially in Seattle, is traumatic and rich enough to create an amazing story. Many of the spirits I know of played a role in that history. They were so attached to their pursuits and especially money, that is the reason they remain trapped in this purgatory of sorts. I believe that when they make themselves known to us living folks, it's because they are aware that they are trapped and need guidance.

I have been giving ghost tours in the Pike Place Market for the past four years. It combines all of my loves - history, community, performing, healing, and the spirit world. This blog is my chance to start really talking about the experiences I have as a ghost tour guide - because it's not only giving the tour that truly feeds my soul, it's the people I meet and their experiences that inspire me. The ghost tour has it's own site, www.marketghost.com You can find a link to tickets which are available through www.brownpapertickets.com

If you have an interest in writing for this site, sharing your experiences in Seattle you are welcome to contact me. I'm off to Sayulita, Mexico for most of January and then the tours start up again in March. The Seattle Channel is running some video from the ghost tour in January on City a Go-go with Nancy Guppy. I will put a link up when it goes live on the Internet.

I was interviewed for KUOW and shared a few of the ghost stories, here is the link: http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=11482

This time of year is pretty quiet when it comes to ghost tours in the Market. I did have a tour last week that proved to be very interesting. About 9 people joined me at 6pm on Thursday. It was a rainy ugly day out but we still went down to Western and up to 1st to go to the Butterworth Mortuary. I had a woman from Turkey on the tour. Her daughter is my co-worker and she acted as the translator. Her mother, Aisha, had been in the Market two days previously and had purchased a key from a vendor. It was bronze and she showed it to the group. She then led us to where she bought it - there was no table or vendor in the location she took us to...nobody selling keys. She described purchasing the key - that she had come down a set of stairs into a large room with dark walls and an entrance way that resembled a railway station entrance - an archway - and that to both sides of her there were people slumped down on the ground and children. She saw a table with keys on them, large bronze antique keys. She approached the table and a woman told her that the keys were keys to the kingdom. How could she refuse? She bought one. Now, I know the Market inside out, and where she led us, there is never space rented to vendors. I worked in the Market leasing office so I know this for a fact. The whole thing is a bit of a mystery. Aisha is convinced that she went into some loophole in space and time and was shown something that day. From the few interactions I have had with her, she could very well have made that journey. Anything is possible...It's too bad we couldn't find the vendor, as I wouldn't mind opening the door to a few kingdoms myself.

This picture came from a woman who took the ghost tour this year. I love the alley and the neon sign for the Market Theater behind me. The theater is said to be hauted with the spirits of young children. It make sense given the history of the Market and of the building that the theater is in. It used to be the Market Stables. Until the early 1930's (I've seen footage from 1927), young children worked in the stables - in fact lived in the stables. They would take care of the horses and in turn the stablemaster took care of the children. They also died in the stables, especially during the flu pandemic in 1918 and 1919. In the theater, there are a few seats left empty during the shows - they are in the back, and they are for the children to gather and watch. The theater is home to Unexpected Productions, which do some incredible improv shows. Just saw an Improvised Christmas Carole there = very funny.