Home » Mind & Soul » Spirits, Ghosts & Legends » The Ghosts Around You

The Ghosts Around You

© Fiona Broome

"The truth is, we are never alone." This is what psychic Sylvia Browne says in her book, The Other Side and Back. She claims that we are surrounded by people who've known and loved us, from the Other Side.

If this is true, it's amazing that we don't encounter "ghosts" more often.

I believe that we do encounter spirits from the Otherworld frequently, but we ignore their signs and messages, or find "logical" explanations for what happens. When all else fails, we call it a coincidence.

Maybe it's a car alarm that wakes you up in time to leave early for work and connect with the supervisor, who gives you a tip that later leads to a promotion.

Maybe it's that "out of the blue" thought that reminds you to get an automotive tune-up on time, and you learn that your brakes need urgent attention, or the fan belt was about to break.

There are many ways that spirits from the Otherworld contact us daily, but we don't pay attention, or we create logical excuses for what occurs.

But, when we talk about ghosts, people often mean hauntings. They want to see things that look like transparent bodies, or floating bedsheets, or a Banshee.

I'm sorry, but most ghosts don't fit those stereotypes. In over 40 years of encounters with ghosts, I've only once seen a ghost who manifested as a floating bedsheet, and he looked ridiculous.

Ghosts rarely appear in human-like form. When these forms do appear, they're usually images from residual hauntings, and not spirits at all. Not anymore, at least.

There are several main categories of hauntings:

Poltergeists. Poltergeists--literally "noisy ghosts"--are the most-often reported ghostly manifestations. The majority of psychologists and professional ghost hunters are reluctant to believe that they are ghosts at all. They say that these are a psycho-kinetic (PK) manifestations, usually produced by an emotional teenage girl.

There are many noted exceptions, but most poltergeists seem to appear near a female in circumstances that she considers highly stressful or frustrating. Usually, the female is between ages 14 and 19. The poltergeist activity usually occurs near her, but she can be asleep or watching television, or even at a neighbor's house when the events occur.

Poltergeists usually make noises or move things around. There are famous accounts of stones or other small objects appearing to rain from the ceiling in the victim's house. The poltergeist can pinch or slap the victim. Dishes or books fly across the room, objects topple for no apparent reason, and so on.