Friday, October 22, 2010

Ghosts versus Spirits … how are they different?



This article was found @ charlespeden.wordpress.com

There seems to be a lot of confusion over the definitions applied to ghosts and spirits. Many times people may use the two terms interchangeably when in fact the two though similar are quiet different.

We are all spirits inside our physical bodies. Think: Car=body & driver = spirit.

The spirits of those who have passed, (died) have two choices upon their death.

The first choice is to “cross over” that involves stepping into a “tunnel” of white light and then being “whisked away” to another dimension – the other side, heaven, summerland … there are many names for it, but I will simply refer to it as “the other side” and then going through a life review.

The second option involves ignoring the white tunnel of light and instead remaining on earth, however unable to move between the two worlds and able to keep a close eye on things connected with your last life on earth. By making the choice to stay (for the time being) you have essentially become a ghost. While as a ghost you have the same body as a full fledged spirit from the other side, however you are vibrating at a lower frequency and are not able to move freely between the planes of existence.

Let’s discuss what happens when you elect to cross over. I must inform you that it is not a world like ours, and therefore it is difficult at best to describe it, in fact I will not bother to describe it, except to say that it seems to be a nice enough place and very similar in many respects to our world, yet vastly different. Spirits who come down from the other side tend to be relatively tightlipped regarding actual details of that dimension and so I will focus more on the difference between ghosts and spirits. I do know however that all of us must go through a “life review.” This life review allows us to see how our actions and thoughts have affected those around us and even the world at large. It is more of a learning experience rather than one where you are being judged and condemned for anything that you did to others that was harmful or hurtful in anyway. Regardless of what the other side is like, we all go through a process called a life review. This is not a judgment rather an opportunity to learn from our most recent incarnation and to appreciate how our thoughts, words and actions affected not only ourselves, but those around us. If you hurt someone physically, you too will feel what it felt like to be harmed by you and how it made them feel emotionally and physically.

After going through the life review, it is my understanding that you are then freed up to explore yourself and the other side. One of the greatest things that is revealed to you, is the history of your past lives. Once you begin to view your life as the sum of your lifetimes versus the results of a single lifetime, frequently you lose some of the interest in the intimate details associated with your most recent life and will begin to be far less attached to the way that things play out after leaving earth from your most recent incarnation into a physical form. This little detail seems to be what keeps some very well informed and “aware” spirits from moving on and staying earthbound as “ghosts” even though they “get it”.

Just as in life, so too in death there are those who understand what is going on better than others, just take a look around you. There are people who are great at “playing” the game of life, they are full of energy, tend to be a pleasure to be around and tend to be successful with good jobs and a great family life. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who cannot seem to get it together. They tend to be the ones who end up homeless, wandering around aimlessly, no real purpose or understanding of how life works here. The same can be said for spirits once they cross, there are those who “get it” and those who do not. Let us discuss those who do not “get it” for a moment.

When someone dies, they tend to feel as though they still have a physical body. Many times there is confusion associated with a tragic and sudden passing such as a car crash. One moment you are fine and the next moment you are standing outside of the vehicle that just wrecked and even though you feel “fine” you can see your body laying there … broken, perhaps mangled. This tends to result in the person who just died, going into shock for a moment as they come to grips with what just happened. In some cases this is all it takes to become a ghost, they may refuse to accept that they are dead and avoid crossing with the hopes that it is all just a bad dream, a nightmare that they will soon wake from. This happens sometimes to people who die in their sleep, where they refuse to accept it. I had one where a lady who had passed at the age of 78 in her sleep, did not believe she was dead, she told me that she watched her funeral, but that it could not possibly have been real because she saw her body in the casket and being lowered in the ground, but was not in the casket herself … so therefore it had to be a nightmare that she could not wake from.

When there is unfinished business that needs to be resolved, it is not uncommon for a spirit to stay as a ghost, until the issue is resolved as many of them realize that they will not care as much once they cross. Ghosts have a bad rap since most of the cases we hear about are the angry ones … “content” (if there is such a thing) ghosts tend to make less of a fuss and tend to not get noticed as much. Angry spirits who have not crossed, such as the ghost of a serial killer who took his own life as the police were closing in on him would be a good example of the type of ghost that Hollywood has latched onto in so many horror movies. The dangers associated with interacting with such a ghost are genuine, though typically not nearly as freaky as shown on the silver screen.

An angry ghost may try and use a living persons body to act out, such as in a “possession”. This is fairly rare since you must allow the ghost to merge with you in order for this to take place. If you do not want to merge, it is fairly easy to resist, however … some enjoy the adrenaline rush and chaos that erupts when they become “possessed” and the host may actually get a “kick” channeling the spirit of the angry ghost.

In my experience often times those who report seeing a ghost are in fact reporting on the appearance of someone who is connected to them. Making yourself visible, or a full manifestation is not an easy thing to do and requires great effort on the part of the ghost. Frequently ghosts will connect with us without bothering to become visible to the naked eye, instead you may feel a coldness, an uncomfortable/unsettled feeling and or other sensations such as unusual smells and odd pains or shortness of breath, often associated with the ghosts manner of passing.

When called in to assist with a “haunted” location the first thing I do is to see if I can establish a dialogue with the ghost and or spirits connected to either the person or location that I am looking into. Ghosts can and do travel, they can be connected to the land or a building, but even then they are capable of traveling anywhere that they choose to go. In order to cross one of them over, I will try and find out what it is that is keeping them from moving on and if possible I will assist them in taking care of any unfinished business and if at the very least will give them someone to talk to. Once the “issue” has been resolved, (if possible) then I will call upon their family members who are on the other side to come and assist me with moving the “ghost” on to the other side.

Spirits on the other side can travel anywhere they please to including into the ghostly ream as well as anywhere in the universe while ghosts are earthbound. Spirits are at a much higher frequency than ghosts. Imagine if you will that in order to cross to the other side you must pass through a mesh screen. While holding onto your earthbound “baggage/issues” you are not able to pass through the fine mesh screen, however those who have dropped/processed their baggage are able to cross though with ease, both “up” to the other side and back “down” to this side.

Some ghosts are proud of their status as a ghost and may relish their position. Many I have spoken to who reside at historical inns, restaurants and the like … consider themselves to be good for the business as many may visit simply in hopes of catching a glimpse of the ghost purported to be on the property. Other ghosts stay behind on battlefields as ambassadors/caretakers of the land and in order to ensure that we never forget the events connected to such places so that we may not repeat them. Ghosts who are associated with locations popular for committing suicide (such as the golden gate bridge and the empire state building) may stay behind in order to attempt to scare people off from following in their footsteps.

Sadly the church especially the Catholic one has helped to “create” a great number of ghosts. When you are told all your life that once you pass you will be judged by St. Peter and either sent to heaven or to hell for all of eternity, you may choose to skip the life review/visit with St. Peter and simply stay where you are, in essence creating your own little “hell” and staying earthbound as a ghost.


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