When Ghosts Speak - Mary Ann Winkowski [17]
She explained that she needed to ask the ghost something in private, something she didn’t want her husband to know she was asking.
I started to get a bit uncomfortable, but the ghost was having a great laugh. I decided I’d try to gently pry. “Are you worried he’s having an affair?” I asked.
The woman shook her head, but didn’t say anything more.
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” the ghost said, still laughing. “She knows her husband is wearing pink lace ladies’ underpants.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I glanced out the window at the legs covered by camouflaged fatigues that were sticking out from under the front of the Jeep. I probably blushed.
“He just told you, didn’t he?” the woman demanded. “Well, you should know that I buy them for him. He says that women’s panties are just more comfortable. He likes camisoles, too,” she added.
I was at a loss. If she already knew this, what kind of secret could she think her husband was keeping from her?
“What I need the ghost to tell me,” the woman said urgently, “is if my husband hangs out with other people who do the same thing.”
I didn’t really want to know myself, but the ghost sighed. “Tell her he doesn’t do anything weird except dress in ladies’ underwear.”
I passed on the information, but the awkward moment still wasn’t over.
“You know,” the ghost continued thoughtfully, “I sort of know where he’s coming from. I mean, I always liked my wife to keep her underwear on when we were . . .” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
By the time I left, the ghost had gone into the Light and the woman was content that her husband simply preferred silk and lace to boxers. I felt like Dr. Ruth or something.
In fact, a lot of the time I do feel like a counselor to both the living and the dead. I help spirits come to peace with their decision to leave—and the living often seem to need reassurance as well.
Over the past fifty years, my ability to talk to earthbound spirits has gone from a secret I shared with my grandmother; to a strange gift acknowledged, but not always accepted, by family, friends, and strangers; to a skill that people want to learn about at workshops and in interviews; to a career that helped inspire a television series.
It seems a natural progression to write this book. As I get busier and see more clients, I realize that people think they know a lot about ghosts—but really what they have is a lot of misinformation. Still, I believe that most people can become more sensitive to the spirit world and its connection with ours.
For instance, it occurred to me one day as Ted drove me to a house—where I would meet with the homeowners and clear out a spirit while Ted sat in the car and read a novel—how receptive he has become to the world of earthbound spirits that I am so in tune with. Maybe it’s because he has lived with me for thirty-nine years, but when he ran the car dealership and sensed that, for instance, there was a spirit attached to the vehicle he’d just picked up at an auction, he was right nearly every time. And many of the people who call me to ask if they have ghosts because they have been having specific problems are correct as well. They have sensed that something is disrupting the physical or mental energy around them, and have not been afraid to trust that sense.
In the chapters that follow, I’ll share with you the knowledge I have gained from more than fifty years of communicating with earthbound spirits. If you have an open mind and a willingness to trust your instincts, I hope that you will gain a deeper understanding of the world of spirits that, for me, has always coexisted with ordinary, everyday life.
PART II
Understanding Earthbound Spirits
2
THE TRUTH ABOUT GHOSTS
Separating Fact from Fiction
IF YOU watch popular television shows like Medium and Ghost Whisperer, or have seen feature films such as Ghost, The Amityville Horror, Stir of Echoes, The Sixth Sense, or What Lies Beneath, you are probably aware that earthbound spirits and vindictive ghosts are Hollywood staples for hair-raising entertainment. Of course, since I really do