DAAN AKKERMAN
by: Daan Akkerman
I could have started at the mother's lap but I have no memories of that time. Before I was familiar with the concept of paranormal talent, however, I had already had, in retrospect, paranormal experiences. I remember consciously that at the age of four, in 1961, I noticed a shining, transparent, colourful light surrounding the nur-sery school teacher "madam Smit" and my fellow pupils. Later on I learned that this had been the aura. Back home I hardly mentioned these experiences because, in the beginning, I thought them to be absolutely common practice. Therefore, I didn't think anything of it, nothing special anyway.
At about the age of six, in the beginning of the elemen-tary school period at the village of Westerlee, I did start talking more about the sometimes quiet beautiful, other times rather turbid or greyish light I saw surrounding persons, animals and plants. It started to intrigue me.
My parents didn't understand it at all. They thought that my eyesight might not be in order. The school doctor however concluded that this wasn't the case. Because of this statement my parents were no longer worried by the fact that I saw these shining lights. Meanwhile I kept on seeing the lights of course, although I had to look in a certain way, kind of alongside the person, while trying not to observe the person itself. Later on I tried to find out if friends at school also noticed this kind of phenomena but each time I mentioned it they didn't understand what I was talking about.
At night, evermore often, I would see lightening pilarlike appearances. Such an appearance would be about two meters high. I thought them to be strange, these light-ning pilars and didn't enjoy the experience much. I would usually turn to the other side so that I would face the wall. As I discussed these appearances with my mother once, she reacted fiercely and replied frightened: "They are demons, I have seen them in the past, they have beaten me in the face once and sat on my feet. They were heavy and felt like bags filled with water. You must tell them to leave when they appear again, or throw water at them, they hate that!". So, that's what my appearances were, the lightning pilars were evil demons. Armed with a glass of water placed at my bedside table, I faced the night, nine years old, at heart both curious and scared. Would it occur this night?
Nothing happened at first. Then, as I was half asleep, I heard a very gentle, melodious voice calling me: "Daniel, Daniel". I turned around and in a beautiful white light I saw the silhouette of a male person with beautifully big almond shaped eyes. In my being I felt such recognition, such warmth, no fear at all. Once again I heard the voice, it seemed to be inside my head: "Daniel, you're mother is wrong, nothing bad will come to you". Slowly the light faded and for days to come, the experience kept on giving me that warm, embracing sense of recognition.
Evermore often the appearance came to me. I discussed it with my mother once again but she was determined that these were evil demons, trying to get a hold of me. Meanwhile I discovered a way to communicate with my spiritual visitor.
If the appearance had come and I posed a question mindedly, I would get short answers, always loving and understanding and the warm feeling would re-appear each time as well. Naturally I would also pose all kind of questions that wouldn't be answered. Soon I found out that my spiritual visitor, who by then still wouldn't mention his name, did explain that it was his duty to guide me but that he would not be forced to answer questions he didn't want to answer at that given moment. My mother told me that my grandmother (her mother) had had "bad" experiences with what she called "demons", as well. I was told that both my grandmother and her mother (my great grandmother) had been fortune tellers (reading cards). Could it be a family tradition? By now I was 10 years old and asked my mother if she was able to tell fortune by cards as well. She explained to me that she was very cautious about it, she certainly knew a lot about it though. My curiousity got satisfied more and more. I demanded all kinds of information about fortune telling by cards.
I was 14 years old and started reading cards, telling fortune experimentally. I noticed that if I would concentrate on the person (my brothers were my first testees), I would receive images en would sometimes hear the familiar voice of my guide. I would do this evermore often, also without cards, in situations, at school, with people that would visit us and usually I could hear the voice: the answers were often resolute but always full of love. I got to interpret the colours of the aura better along the way. I found out that I could conclude syndromes by the colours of the aura. For instance if somebody suffered from a headache, I would see orange, fiery sparks in certain areas around the head. More and more often I would make home telling remarks (often unaware myself) that would cause reactions like: "Who told you?", "How did you know?" and so on. Well, I could tell you about dozens of experiences like that but I won't. However, I do want to tell you about how I became a psychic and trancemedium.
After finishing secondary school, I wasn't to motivated to study anymore. I finally wanted to do something worthwile, I was
still free to choose. My father had his own business and I started to assist but my ambition lay elsewhere. I wanted something for myself, I had turned eightteen and started having a growing interest in antiques and connecting to people. Later on this turned out to be fitting to my sign of the zodiac, Cancer. At the age of nineteen, I started an antiques business together with a associate antiques merchant. At the house I occupied, I started a boarding house.
In contacts with people that visited to buy antiques, evermore often the question would appear, how I was able to tell certain things that would turn out later exactly the way I predicted they would. Therefore it didn't take long before my first consultations would take place at the, by then purchased, antiques farm in Westerlee.
By now I was twenty three years old. More and more people made appoint-ments for consultations instead of antiques. All this had been foretold by my spiritual visitor. In 1981 I bought the house at "De Veenweg 24" in Westerlee, let gradually go of buying and selling antiques and started giving evermore consultations. People from the whole of Holland, Germany and further away, called (+31 597 - 421204) for appointments. This situation continues up to this day.