SPIRITUALISM has never been more popular.

Everyone seems to know someone who has been to see a medium, psychic or clairvoyant, or indeed has the "power".

But for many the idea of talking to the dead is still too bizarre to comprehend.

And as Malvern spiritualist Julie Angel-Guest found out, some people will go to extreme lengths to try to put a stop to it.

The 32-year-old former policewoman was accused of witchcraft when she organised a recent charity night in aid of the Droitwich Girl Guides.

In the end, public pressure meant she had to find another good cause for the money, and the Sea Cadets were the eventual grateful recipients of the event's £250 proceeds.

But while we all know the term spiritualism, what exactly does it mean?

"Spiritualism is a recognised religion which is growing all the time," said Ms Angel-Guest.

"It believes in the ability to contact people who are no longer here in person and to give people proof that loved ones live on after they leave this earth."

Ms Angel-Guest first started to see ghosts at the age of four. But it wasn't for another 23 years that she first made "contact" with the dead in the way she does now.

"Two very close relatives of mine died and afterwards I got messages from them," she added.

"They died of pneumonia and I had the symptoms for five weeks. I now see, hear, and feel people who have died, and can relate this information to living relatives through a sort of telephone link between this world and the next."

But instead of taking her word for it, I put Ms Angel-Guest's claims to the test.

At the age of 27, it is inevitable that I have lost people I care about.

But it wasn't until recently my grandfather, who was very close to me, died - and it was him that I wanted to contact.

I sat on a rocking chair in a small room in Ms Angel-Guest's Old Wych-Road home.

The room was decorated with candles and stars were stuck onto the walls and ceiling. Although I'm not a believer, I was immediately taken by the mystical atmosphere.

I had not given Ms Angel-Guest any personal details, although inevitably she knew my occupation and where I work.

"I've got a man here who died suddenly and he is pointing to his chest and head," she begins.

"He passed over quickly and I am getting that he had a heart attack or stroke (one of those is correct) and that you were quite young when he died (wrong).

"He was on your father's side of the family... no sorry, your mother's (well, one had to be correct!) and was in his late 60s when he died."

My grandad was in fact, older, but I always thought he looked young for his age.

She then went on to mention where he was born, his occupation, and the anniversary of his death, all of which are correct, although this was

intermingled with information that made no sense to me whatsoever.

She asked me for the first letter of his name, which I gave her, and she asked if the second letter she came up with was right. And although this narrowed it down a lot, I was still shocked when she said the name I had been waiting to hear.

She then mentioned some facts that I could relate to my one great grandad, who she correctly said was on my father's side.

Again she asked me for the first letter of that person's name. I gave it to her and she came up with the right name, as well as his wife's name and later on, the name of my one grandad, who is alive.

After a few suggestions, she also named my one grandmother, who again is still alive, but said she is known under a different name.

This is not entirely correct but I can relate to it in some ways.

She also mentioned a woman in her late 50s, early 60s who had died of breast cancer. I know of two people who fit this description.

I came out of the reading feeling overjoyed. Surely I had enough proof of an afterlife. But now, a few days on, I am feeling less optimistic.

I asked Ms Angel-Guest for descriptions of my family members and she could not give me them.

There were also very personal things that only my family and I could have known that I would have expected to come up and they didn't.

After listening to a tape of the reading, I realised that a lot of what was said did not mean anything to me - although it might to other members of my family.

I think I am now more inclined to believe in an afterlife, and I desperately want to think I will meet up with loved ones again and spend eternity with them.

But I am not entirely convinced.

I suppose we will all only really know the truth when we die - but then again, maybe we won't...