Interactions with the Dead

        How do you know for sure that you came into physical contact with a spirit? How do you know that you actually heard one speaking and it wasn't just your mind playing tricks? How do you know that the person you saw standing there a minute ago wasn't a spirit? That your eyes aren't just tired or your not just seeing things? Actually, when situations like these occur, they tend to be the real deal. You actually did touch a spirit, hear a spirit, or see a spirit. But our mind tries to explain it rationally. It tries to come up with an excuse to explain what isn't normal. That's what we've been taught our whole lives, most of us at least. So as a first step, lets stop trying to rationalize everything, and see it for what it is. Here's an experience that I'm sure almost everyone has had but they just disregarded it. When I was about 14, I was in my room with my sister. It was a Saturday morning, so we were just being lazy and stayed in bed. My mother was in the next room over reading a book when we heard her call us both by name " Lexi. Marie." Reluctantly we got up and walked to her room and asked "yes?"  She looked up from her book and said " what happened?" My sister then replied, " Nothing happened, you called us. What do you need?" My mom looked a little confused and said " I didn't call you." "But we heard you." I replied. She just said, " No, i didn't call you." Then she went back to reading her book. My sister and I walked back to our room and started talking about what just happened. Most people would rationalize and say that it was just their mind. But let me ask this, how do you rationalize TWO people hearing the exact same thing? Both my sister and I heard a voice call us both by name very clearly, so clearly in fact, that we assumed it was our mother. Almost everyone has experienced this at one point in their life. Someone is trying to get your attention, whether because they need something or they just want to have a little fun( yes, some spirits just toy with you).  So this was a situation where a spirit was heard, nothing more.
       How do you know that you've come into physical contact with a spirit? This is usually through reactions from your body to your surroundings. Ever felt like your being watched but when you look around no one is there. This is an instance where you could be near a spirit. Or ever walked into a room, or house, or building and felt uneasy? Like something is wrong or it just feels bad? You might be in the vicinity of a tormented spirit, or something was done wrongfully towards the spirit during its life in that location. You could also walk into a room and feel happiness, sadness, loneliness, and all different types of emotions that these spirits felt or continue to feel. Have you ever seen shows like Ghost Adventures or Paranormal State? When they measure drops or rises in temperature, hair raising from the body, lung constriction; these are all physical reactions to the presence of a spirit. This is a way of our body alerting us to a change in our surroundings. One of the more personal body reactions consists of marks on our own bodies. This could be bruising if we were touched or grabbed, burning sensations on our skin and scratches. These tend to appear when you are in contact with malevolent spirits. Some go so far as to physically attack us, by hitting or kicking.
       How do you know if you saw a spirit? This one is a little trickier. The best way to prove to yourself that you actually saw a spirit is if someone else saw it with you. If you saw someone standing at the corner and when you blink they are gone, how do you know whether they were even there in the first place if no one else saw it? That is up to you. When I experience that, I instinctively decide whether it was real or not, 99% of the time it is real. You can walk into the space you saw them and see if your body reacts differently, that would be a good way to prove to yourself whether it was real or not. But honestly, the decision is up to you whether you want to classify it as real or a trick of the eyes. However, if you are with someone and across the way you see what you feel is a spirit, they do not disappear, and your friend can not see it, then you have indeed seen a spirit. More so, it could be that the spirit is trying to communicate with you specifically, maybe it needs your help or has a message for you. More often than not, this is the case. Most spirits who try to communicate with us have an ulterior motive. They want help, have a message for us, have a message to relay, or just want the attention. There are those who have not come to terms with their death and those who wish to harm others even after death.
          So the next time you experience something similar to what I have mentioned, don't be so quick to debunk it or rationalize it. Maybe you have an ability that you never gave a chance to grow. Maybe you will learn something new and important about yourself or your future.
       

A Life Filled with Spirits

        Ever since I was a child, as far back as I can possibly remember, I've had certain abilities. Now I'm sure this sounds a little hard to believe for some but it is true. Everyone is different after all. Not all of us like and dislike the same things, not all of us excel at sports or in academics. So why can't some be born with different abilities, like hearing spirits, seeing spirits, or being able to communicate with them? As a matter of fact, who's to say that these abilities can't be learned or taught? So to begin, let's start with the first encounter that I can remember. I was 6 and I lived in an apartment with my mother and older sister, who was 9 at the time. Our block had lost power for whatever reason, so the house was dark except for the bedrooms, which my mother had placed candles in. Before bed I had to use the restroom, so i stepped out of the room and into the bathroom, which was the next room over. I had left the door open from my bedroom, so that the light emitted by the candle could shine into the bathroom. As I was lifting my pajamas and getting off the seat, I noticed a strange shadow across  the hall. He was standing behind a potted plant, but I could see his eyes vividly. Naturally, I ran screaming into my room. "There's a man in the hallway!!!" I yelled to my mother. She immediately retrieved a knife that she kept hidden in a drawer and ran out into the hallway, closing the door behind her and leaving me and my sister alone. We could hear her searching the house and a door slamming, but something else drew our attention. In front of our door, across our beds stood a man. A man that both me and my sister saw. He was not someone we knew, and he had formed out of thin air. But for some reason we knew not to scream,because we felt no danger. The man's presence was reassuring. He was dressed in khaki slacks, a buttoned up shirt with a jacket, and he looked to be in about his late forties or early fifties. He never moved and he spoke very quickly, though it felt like he spoke into my mind rather than out loud. He simply said " you'll be all right" and then he was gone. My mother walked in not a second later and she called the police. Apparently someone had broken into our house and ran out when I screamed. We spent the night at a relatives house just to be safe. It wasn't until a couple years later that my sister and I both realized who this man that we had seen that night was. It was our grandfather, on our father's side, who had died two years prior in a plane crash. He and my grandmother were flying in to meet us for the first time but never actually did make it. The clothes he was wearing were the clothes he was photographed in before boarding the plane. Sadly, this was the only time I have ever seen my grandfather. However, the same can not be said of my grandmother.