Hollywood's Take on Spirits

My first experience seeing a full apparition was at the age of four. I was in the bathroom and ran out, screaming out of the top of my lungs, with my little shorts and underwear all the way down to my ankles, desperately trying to reach my mother's protection. She knew something had happened the minute she saw my condition. I told her I had seen a young black girl wearing African looking clothes and she danced happily in front of me. My mother laughed, carried me in her arms, and kissed me reassuring me that it was nothing to worry about.

Some time later, I had a dream with the same African girl. I guess she realized that her attempt to make contact with me resulted in weeks of parental supervised visits to the bathroom. This time she had come to apologize, to introduce herself, and to assure me that she meant no harm and was only trying to play with me. After that day, she never presented herself as a full apparition again, but I still knew when she was around. Sometimes it was a faint vision, other times it was just a familiar overwhelming feeling. Either way, she became a good friend and I spent many hours of my childhood playing and talking to her.

But that wasn't the only vision I had. Some of the spirits I began to see, like the African girl, became very familiar; others were a bit more frightening since they were strangers who presented themselves in full apparition and walked past me completely unaware of my presence. It was obvious that they were not interested in interacting with me. In fact, they completely ignored me. They looked like regular people, nothing scary about them, but the second you looked away and took a glance back to find them, they were gone.

When my mother saw that my encounters with spirits had become more frequent, and noticed they were being perceived as a negative experience by me, she decided it was time to give me "the talk" that all psychic parents have to eventually give their children that inherit the gift of mediumship. She told me that when people die, their hearts stop beating and the bodies become one with the earth, but the spirit which is the one that makes us move, laugh, love, and care for each other, never disappears. She continued to tell me the story of a daily occurrence that happened while she was pregnant of me. Back then, my mother lived in a tiny little room with no windows and no air conditioning. They used a single fan to try to get by in those hot summer nights. My father had bought her a rocking chair. Apparently, every night after going to bed, the empty rocking chair rocked back and forth with intense force. My mother, who was used to this type of paranormal activity surrounding her, kept on telling the spirit to knock it off. If the spirit ignored her request and continued moving the rocking chair, she would simply stand up and flip the piece of furniture upside down to make it stop. According to her, it was one of her Spirit Guides that was happily anticipating my birth. She was able to see this particular spirit. Although, it might sound scary, the intentions of the soul were never to harm anyone. She made me understand that sometimes the soul just wants to let us know that they are present, watching over us, willing to help us in any way they can.

I don't know if it was the cool manner in which she explained this, or the fact that I was too young to be impressed by such a thing, but I never felt fear from that point on. I realize now that if I had been born into a different type of family, I would have been taken straight to the psychiatrist for a full evaluation. All I can say is that I am glad I chose the family that I did at the time of reincarnation.

Years later, I began to receive proof that these Spirit Guides were not part of my imagination. In fact, there was one that helped me copy all the answers to a test that I had not studied for. Yes, I received an "A" thanks to the smartest kid in the class who was sitting right in front of me. I never saw his answers, but I had an invisible friend who whispered them in my ear. I might not have been able to share my gift with any other kids in school, but they always wondered why I walked with a big grin on my face.

Gruesome, bloody, mutulated, revengeful and plain disgusting! Sure they make you jump out of your seat and cover your eyes, but where do they get these ideas?! The truth is that Hollywood's take on the paranormal has influenced American culture in a negative way.

Movies such as The Sixth Sense, The Ring, and Gothika feature pissed off spirits that are either set on a vengeful path, or trying to scare the hell out of people in order to get their attention. These films are non-realistic to say the least. I have met many psychic mediums in my life, and never have I heard of a spirit that fits into such category. Spirits can appear to be confused, or even caught up on a specific feeling such as worry, sadness, desperation, etc; but they will most likely show themselves as they looked during their happiest moments, even if they are not at peace. One of my favorite movies of all time is The Others featuring Nicole Kidman. I would hate to spoil the movie for those readers that have never seen it, but it is a must! I think it is a wonderful example of a plausible situation.

However, just as there are good spirits, there are also dark entities as well. As long as you understand that spirits are just like people, you'll get the point. In fact, they are people who no longer inhabit a physical body. Human beings are capable of the most wonderful deeds as well as the most despicable actions, and spirits are no exception. Demonic possession is possible. Movies such as The Exorcism of Emily Rose which depicts the breakdown of a young woman as she becomes possessed by a supernatural evil entity, is only one among many other true stories of this kind. Although true, these incidents are extremely rare. These demonic possesions are usually triggered by long periods of extreme depression, where the aura of the individual becomes suceptible and negative, making it an easy target. The victim becomes a magnet to all that is harmful and eventually can't find the strength to pull it together in order to survive.

How can you tell if a spirit is friendly or not? It's not always easy to tell since darker spirits can appear benevolent at first. The best thing to do is to keep track of any unexplained incidents surrounding you and be skeptical at first. If the spirit is plainly bothering you while you are sleeping, or making you feel uncomfortable in any way, try to talk to it politely. Explain to it that you are not comfortable with these encounters and you would rather mantain a distance to it. Ask it to come to you in a dream instead if its intentions are to communicate with you. Many times what happens is that a less enlightened spirit will try to establish communication but ends up being disruptive instead. This does not mean that it's a harmful evil entity, it just doesn't have enough light to get its point across. Prayer will bring this spirit to light little by little. Ask God to help the soul evolve and always ask for guidance and protection. Do not invite the spirit into your life assuming it's a Spirit Guide. Remember, you won't be able to know in a week or a month, but over a longer period of time. If the entity continues bothering you after you talk to it politely, then it is time to use a more authoritarian tone of voice. Do not insult it or talk down to it. Simply let them know who is in charge and what you expect without any room for discussion. This works extremely well when it comes to annoying entities that are simply trying to bother you to get your attention.

Although many people insist that night time is best to establish communication with the spirit world, I was always taught that that's when most dark entities are up to no good. I recommend daytime instead. Also, if you hear your name being called and you are not sure if it's someone or a spirit, do not respond. Those tricksters love playing with your head! Completely ignore them and they'll leave you alone. Most importantly, do not be afraid of them. Fear only gives the enemy power. Remember, they will only go as far as you'll allow them. Keep positive thoughts, always pray for God's protection, and stand your ground. Soon you will be able to tell the difference between your Spirit Guides and others. And the more you develop your relationship with your Spirit Guides, the more they'll help you. They'll warn you when you are in danger, offer spiritual advice, and protect you against any negative forces that come your way. Oh, did I mention they love gossip?

 It's important to keep a log of any paranormal activity that you are noticing on a daily basis. Write the time and place where things occur. If you find patterns, it's possible that you are experiencing fragments of a fixed spiritual energy, and not a spirit itself. In other words, if a vision appears or a particular noise is heard more than once in the same place around the same time, it's possible that it might be a residual energy of someone who might have lived in that house. Human beings are creatures of habit, and if we are used to doing a specific activity everyday at a particular time it's likely that the energy of the motion itself persists by repeating itself like a broken record. For example, if you notice a female spirit looking out the same window at 4pm more than once, it's possible that it might be a replay of a mother waiting for her children to arrive from school - something that the woman used to do everyday while she lived in the house. In the case of a sudden or tragic death such as a fire, or a car accident, it's possible to hear voices asking for help or crying. This does not mean that the victims' souls are still hanging around. It just means that that particular moment in time carried such an overwhelming energy imprint that its echo remains behind. If this is something that occurs in your house, do not be afraid of it. The more you live in this particular place, the faster your energy will replace the previous one. Someday it will be someone else watching you do your favorite activity time and time again.