Understanding the Phenomenon of Ghosts and the Paranormal by Psychic Theo

The topics of ghosts and the paranormal have become something that is everywhere, from books on encounters with spirits and ghosts as well as popular reality TV shows where you see groups of people trying to make contact with whatever specter or spirit awaits them on their hunt. The surge of these shows as well as the number of psychic mediums seem to be increasing.

Has this manifested due to our fear and curiosity of what lies ahead for us after we take our final breath?  We all know (or hope) that one day we will leave our physical body and there will be an afterlife awaiting us. So, this leads to many questions about ghosts.

• What really are ghosts?
• Are all ghosts the same type?
• What makes a ghost?

During my time as a working medium I have encountered some unusual things and I want to explore that more.  So, I say let the hunt for ghosts begin.  Are you ready to try and pull back the curtain a little and see what may be waiting on us?

What is a Ghost and How are They Created?

That is a big question with no definite answer. The truth is that all information on this subject comes from many sources. We all have a friend or family member who can tell a tale of ghostly images, ghoulish apparitions and haunted houses that would make you sleep with the light on in hopes of it being only a story but what if there is some truth there? What if the stories we have all read and heard are true?  What really is a ghost? 

To give you a clear definition of what a ghost is I turned to a favorite book of mine. The Weiser Field Guide of the Paranormal by Judith Joyce states “Ghosts are generally acknowledged to be the spirits or souls of dead people.” So, if ghosts are the spirits of the deceased then what happened to the belief that when you die you go into the light and you are done? Does dying create the ghost? Just by looking at the question of what a ghost is, we can go down a rabbit hole that would go beyond any article.

A Residual Haunting

To sum up some of the information that I have gathered in reading and my time as a working medium, a ghost is created after death when that person or even an animal has a reason to stay behind. This reason can range depending on the being that has passed. When you see a ghost that keeps doing the same thing over and over and doesn't pay attention to you or anyone else that is what is called a residual haunting. The theory to this is, that when something traumatic happens there is an energetic imprint on the environment, kind of like watching a movie of your favorite actor who is no longer with the living. The entity isn't aware or even intelligent, it just does the same thing over and over.

An Intelligent Haunting

If the energy of a traumatic event can cause a residual haunting, then what causes one when the spirit is active and engaging with the living occupants of that space? When we have an “intelligent” haunting, we are dealing with a spirit who is aware that they are still here and will try and make contact. When you have a ghost like this it is there because when it left its physical form it could have happened so fast that they aren't even sure what happened or what is going on. There are many other reasons of why a human or animal will stay around after death. They may have regret that they need to resolve, or they just aren't ready to leave behind their loved ones.

One more thing that I want to share with you about intelligent ghosts are sometimes even addictions can cause a ghost to say earth bound. There have been instances where someone who was a heavy alcoholic would still go to bars and sit with people drinking. The book Remarkable Healings: A Psychiatrist Discovers Unsuspected Roots of Mental and Physical Illness by Shakuntala Moodi, M.D. talks about some of her cases where her patient would come in with a physical ailment or emotional issues and under hypnosis she discovered that someone who enjoyed drinking and had died would attach themselves to someone at a bar so they could attempt to enjoy drinking again. She talks about during the hypnosis sessions how the spirit or ghost would speak through the patient and she would them help the ghost or spirit cross over, which would lead to the patient recovering almost immediately.

Animal Ghosts

As far as animal ghosts are concerned, I personally have had encounters where I have physically seen the spirit of a golden retriever standing on my back deck. It was so real that I even thought it was my dog Sam. I saw the dog jump up to the top of the small steps just like Sam would do and stand there. I called out to it like it was my dog and saw it fizzle out, almost like a mist and then it was gone. The dog didn't want to leave the home it loved so it decided to stay there, and I had a feeling that he enjoyed having my dogs around as well.  Plus, I'm not the only one who saw the dog. It showed up to my roommate the same way, multiple times.

Messages from Beyond

For the ghosts that do crossover, even if they needed a little help, the information I have gotten during my work is that it is beautiful on the other side. They do visit us, they do check on us and that love is forever. They can leave different things as messages to say they are there.

Phantom smells can be a sign that they are they.  Many times, the smell of smoke, perfume or their favorite flower will linger in the air, this is a way they show their visits.

Another major way for spirits to visit is in dreams. When our conscious, logical mind is relaxed, and we are in a receptive state they use that as a way to visit us while we dream. I have dreamed of my mom many times and it was as if she was there, and you know what, I believe she was.

So, whether you believe in ghosts or not, isn't the idea of an afterlife comforting? Doesn't the idea that our loved ones are gone but spending time in a beautiful place that is closer to us than we know. Death isn't the bad guy, death isn't evil but what death really is a way for us to go back home when our visit on this earth is over, and it really is just a visit. We get to go home when our time here is up and that is what I feel and have learned the most about.

My Sinister Ghost Encounter – a True Tale

I would like to share some things I have learned working as a psychic medium. I have encountered some things that would be described as darker and a little more sinister than a ghost, I have also encountered some things that were amazing, beautiful and so healing that it made my belief in something beautiful after we die just increase.  I will share a case that I worked on for a friend of my aunt that involved not only a ghost but a sinister entity as well.

My aunt, who has since passed, came to me and wanted to know if me and my friend could come to her friend's house and just see what we got and what we could do to help. According to the friend there was something there that was tormenting her son every night when he would go to bed. It would turn toys on, move things just about anything to scare the poor kid. I believe at the time the child was about 6 years old and during my time there was not in the home. They let him stay at his grandparents’ house while we looked into what was going on. As we entered the home there was a smell of sulfur, which can indicate some negative entities, but I didn't want to jump into that until I got a better feel for the place. My friend that was with me, an ordained minister, walked in first and greeted everyone. He was immediately drawn to a room at the end of the hall, which was the room of the little boy.

I was pulled into a dark side room as I walked. As soon as I set foot into that room, I had the image of an older lady, a grandmother, standing there come into my mind. I stood there for a minute and she gave the feeling that she was there to help protect the little boy as well as she had a message for his mother. As we proceeded to look around, I could feel a major heavy feeling in the house, the kind of feeling when you are getting a headache and just feel bad. I asked everyone that was there to step outside but to leave the door open. I made sure no pets were there because I started smudging the house and asking for divine help and to bring in protective white light.

My friend did his prayers and brought some holy water with him. We both got to the little boy's room and the feeling just got more and more heavy. As I stepped into the dark room, I was immediately greeted by a tall dark entity that was very unhappy we were there. It looked in my mind’s eye like a tall dark man, wearing a dark hat and suit and just gave me the impression that he wanted to do harm to the child.

As my friend did his prayers with the holy water, I continued doing my ritual to help remove this dark man from the house. The day before I had stopped at a metaphysical shop and asked for some advice from a trusted friend that worked there, and she told me to use salt. Once the entity was out of the home, I needed to use black salt to pour a line around the home to keep it out. After about an hour or so I could feel the entity had left the home but was standing in the yard just waiting to get back in. As my friend finished his blessing, I went out to do my protective ring around the home. As I did this, I could feel the entity move further and further back. Once I was done, I had an image that sent cold chills down my back and throughout my body.

The dark man was standing in the wood line behind the home and was extremely mad at me and my friend. I finished doing a clearing of myself before I went back in by smudging myself with sage. We did the same to the home and as everyone started back into the home, we cleansed them the same way. I did hear later that the little boy came home and for the first night in months was able to stay in his room. The entity did have one more thing to do and that was one night it came into the bedroom of my friend and stood there. He said he could see a shadow figure standing there and after doing his prayers it went away, I thankfully didn't have any issues and that was the only one he had.

The grandmother that was there that I told you in the beginning of the story was there to protect the child and just wanted to have a conversation with her granddaughter. The funny thing was that she just wanted to share her love for her granddaughter, the little boy and using me to visit verbally with everyone.

So that is my story and just a little of what I have learned about the phenomenon of ghosts. If your curiosity is peaked why not do a little research for yourself and see what ghoulish stories and encounters, you find.  Working with spirits can be a little intimidating but it can be so rewarding at the same time.

Happy Ghost Hunting!

For even more ghost stories from our Psychic Advisors and Mediums, check out this spooky compilation of tales available to read starting on Halloween, October 31^st, 2021.