Ghosts Among Us and Objects That Move

A few weeks ago, a dear friend I know stayed at my home for the weekend. As he sat in the backyard watching the birds in the morning, I took a quick photo. Later, when I looked at the photo I had taken, I noticed a large bright light hanging in the air around a nearby tree and two smaller lights near it. That night, we had dinner in my dining area. While I was enjoying my meal, a full glass of wine tipped over onto my plate, although no one had touched the glass. Later, the microwave door slammed shut, seemingly on its own.

While paranormal activity doesn’t “spook” me, the three incidents in one day caused me to take notice. The following Sunday, my friend passed away. I know now that the large light was an angel, and the smaller lights were his wife and another relative waiting to take him home.

Paranormal activity has always been a part of my life. The first time I can recall anything occurring was when I was living in a dorm room at the University of Georgia. A friend that lived at the dorm needed to move out of her room which had a very noisy roommate. Since my roommate had dropped out of college, I decided to let my friend stay in my room. I told her, “If you want to stay with me you need to know I like keeping my room neat, and I have ghosts.” At the time, my friend did not believe in ghosts, so I showed her. I said, “If there is someone in the room with me, please show us you are here.” At that moment, books fell off of a bureau with a slam! My new roommate jumped but was determined to tough it out.

Later, we moved to an off-campus apartment together. I was unaware that the place had been converted to an apartment complex following the closure of a senior home for the aging at that location. As it happens, one of the residents who had died there chose not to leave. He caused all kinds of trouble for us – from flushing the toilet at odd times to appearing on my closet door in a threatening manner to pushing my roommate against a door. Finally, I had had enough, and I told the ghost, “You can stay if you will quit causing trouble. Help out with the rent money, why don’t you?” The next day, I found a man’s shaving kit in a closet. It was full of coins. I told him, “thank you,” and I never had any trouble from him again.

There was another situation in Athens that I laugh about to this day. Seems there was a group of ghosts who lived in my little rental house. They would sing spirituals and dance in my living room. The first time I ran outside to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating from too much studying and not enough sleep.  When I walked back inside they started singing again.  A few weeks later, my little sister came up from Atlanta to stay with me for the night. She woke around 2 a.m. to witness someone walking into the bathroom. She called out my name, but I did not answer, so she got up to see what was going on. When she looked into my room, there I was sound asleep. Needless to say, she did not sleep get another wink of sleep. The next day she announced to me that she would never stay over at my place again. And she hasn’t.

As a former reporter, I had many incidents where ghosts would show up to tell me how they died. Imagine the surprise of the members of the police department when I would call for confirmation already armed with the facts?

A few years ago, I was asked by a friend to visit Racoon Mountain Caverns near Chattanooga, Tennessee, for a special tour involving the two of us plus a guide. My friend brought a device to capture audio of any paranormal activity. It was a lively day, and I spoke to a number of spirits who enjoyed “living” in the cool, dark cave. As I was passing through a narrow space, I felt something – almost like a noose – around my neck. I realized that particular ghost had died from hanging. As the cave guide had never experienced the paranormal before that day, I stepped out of the passage and had him stand where I was. He had the same sensation and was simultaneously frightened and amazed. My friend asked me if I would like to stay overnight in the cavern to further explore it, but I declined.

These days, when I have a scheduled reading, a spirit may show up in advance to let me know they would like to “visit” during the session. Once I am in the session, they will indicate they are present, either with a smell or an image (such as planting flowers) that may be associated with them, or it may be the manner of their death, which I will feel in my body. Some will “speak” through me. Others will mention things that are important to the person I am reading for, so a connection can be made. There are also times when the spirit makes it clear that they have moved on to heaven or their final resting place and have no plans to come back to visit. In those situations, they let me know that they are happy and are no longer in pain.

So what signs should you look for to determine if you have paranormal activity around you? ForeverConscious.com suggests the following:

1. Unexplained Noises
2. Opening Doors or Cupboards
3. Lights or Electronics Switching on and off
4. Disappearing Items
5. Shadows
6. Feeling of Being Watched
7. Hot and Cold Spots
8. Unexplained smells
9. Levitating Objects
10. Apparitions
11. Objects at your feet (coins, feathers)
12. Animal (pet) reactions

For the most part, these spirits are no threat to you, and may be stopping by to give you a message. Or it may be someone that is attached to an antique (I have a few of them!). However, if you would prefer the spirits to go on their way, rather than stick around, you can light a white candle and guide them to the light by letting them know their family is waiting. You can also burn sage in a bowl while carrying the bowl and fanning the smoke around the house, particularly around doors, yourself and your pets.