When Ghosts Speak - Mary Ann Winkowski [23]
But I have also been in houses where, although the homeowner swore there was a distinctive odor, I couldn’t sense any earthbound spirits. One woman called me after her grandmother had died. She explained that she had taken some of her grandmother’s furniture. They had put Grandma’s rocker in the family room, and even when it was empty, that chair rocked back and forth a mile a minute. The woman also mentioned that whenever she walked past the room when the chair was moving, she could smell her grandmother’s signature perfume, a distinctive scent called Evening in Paris.
Given all the signs, I couldn’t blame the woman for thinking that the ghost of her grandmother had moved in and reclaimed her rocking chair, but I did not pick up on any earthbound spirits in her home. I reassured the woman that I believed her grandmother had crossed over into the Light and was fine, although it was possible that she just stopped by to visit from time to time.
What Ghosts Know and Don’t Know
Ghosts Know That They Are Dead
Sometimes people ask me if spirits become earthbound because they don’t realize they’re dead. Simple common sense tells me that spirits can look down at their bodies and know they are dead. Talking to countless spirits at funeral homes confirms this. Although the spirits of very young children are rarely present at wakes or viewings, I have talked to the spirits of kids as young as five or six who tell me, “Well, I know it looks like I’m sleeping, but really, I’m dead.”
In fact, I have yet to meet any spirits who didn’t know they were dead. They may not like being dead, but they’re aware that they are, and they know how they died. This is one of the reasons that I am able to help government and law enforcement agencies: Any homicide victims who have seen their murderers can identify them, especially if they knew their killers in life.
Earthbound Spirits Don’t Have Any Special, Higher Knowledge
Until spirits cross into the Light, they do not gain any knowledge of what happens beyond the lives of mortals. Earthbound spirits cannot tell the future. They cannot predict the winning numbers in the lottery. They cannot offer special guidance or protection, or relay messages or information from spirits who have crossed over and are of the Light. There are spirits that some people refer to as “lying spirits.” These ghosts will go out of their way to give wrong information to a medium or communicate the wrong answers on a Ouija board. Honestly, I don’t consider this to be a special category of spirit. If your uncle Louie was a big liar when he was alive, he’ll still be a big ol’ liar when he is dead! If Aunt Elsie didn’t have the answers to certain questions in life, she won’t be any smarter as an earthbound spirit.
Some mediums claim to get information from angels or spirit guides. When these people have consistently correct information, I have to assume it’s coming from an entity who’s not earthbound. I have stood next to some of the most respected and consistently correct psychics in the country and seen no earthbound spirits next to them when they did their readings. I have to think that their information is coming from a spirit who has gone into the Light.
Ghosts do, however, have access to some kinds of information that they might not have been able to gain while they were alive, simply because they can move about and observe people undetected. Still, the fact that your kindly old neighbor who passed away can stop by to peek in on your morning beauty rituals does not count as her having higher knowledge, at least not in my book!
This kind of gossipy information that earthbound spirits are privy to can make my job difficult at times. I once was called to a house where a sexy-looking ghost named Dixie was wreaking