When Ghosts Speak - Mary Ann Winkowski [32]
Suzy began to cry as she explained how she knew her parents had been in the house and died in the fire and how she knew she was supposed to go into the Light, but instead she had run away from the house. She’d tried to go back and find her parents, but—like any lost little kid—she’d become confused and disoriented and, before she knew it, her Light was gone.
“Oh, sweetie, they must miss you,” I said. “They’ll forgive you. I know, because I’m a mom.”
“But I’ve been bad while I’m here. I’ve been mean to lots of kids, not just Lana,” Suzy said, hanging her head.
I was not surprised to find out that ever since she had become earthbound, Suzy had wandered from house to house, seeking the familiar environment of a family and the company of children her age. When people die, their spirits remain at the age they were at their death. Child ghosts seek out children, but when the living children grow up, the ghosts move on, searching for the next place where they feel they can fit in.
It seems to be a particularly difficult existence for child spirits, and I always do everything I can to encourage them to cross over. They almost always do. Suzy was no exception. I reassured her again that her parents would forgive her and made the white Light for her to enter. “It’s okay to go,” I said gently as she stepped toward the Light. “Your grandmother can help you explain things to your parents.”
It’s not only children who will hesitate to go into the Light. I have met many other spirits, especially those who have committed suicide, who are afraid that they will be judged or punished if they cross over.
Just like these spirits, I, too, wonder what awaits us in the Light. I have asked all kinds of spiritual leaders whether they can tell me if earthbound spirits are in purgatory or hell or some other kind of limbo, and what they believe happens once they cross into the Light. But no one has been able to give me a satisfactory answer. The one thing they all agree on, however, is that spirits are not meant to remain on earth.
Although I’m Catholic, I do believe in a form of reincarnation. I feel that as long as a ghost remains earthbound, the spirit cannot go forward spiritually or emotionally or gain the higher form of awareness that I am sure is awaiting each of us in the Light. Basically, spirits who don’t cross over become “stuck” here on earth. They cannot help the living in any way, and they do not know anything more about the workings of the afterlife than they did when they were alive.
What Awaits Us in the Light
When I run into spirits who have lost their white Light, I never hesitate to make it for them. I figure that everyone has the Light with them when they die, and everyone has the choice to cross over. So who am I to decide whether or not they should have a second chance? I believe my job is to make the Light, let the person walk into it, and let a higher power make the judgment about what happens after that. Once I have watched earthbound spirits go into the Light, I close it behind them. If they’re going to heaven or to some other good place, then they’ll be fine. If they’re going to hell, I’m sure not going to be the one who leaves the door open for them to come back out. As far as I’m concerned, the road through the white Light only goes one way! Because I have never yet seen a spirit turn around and try to come back out of the Light, I suspect that not even ghosts know exactly where they are headed when they start on their journey into the Light. No matter how much reason they might have to fear judgment, or how much work I have to do to convince them to cross over, once ghosts agree to go into the Light, they all go willingly.
For instance, in one chilling encounter, I released the very disturbing spirit of a confirmed killer into the Light. I had gone to visit an elegant home in a wealthy community not far from Chicago after receiving a call from a woman—an antiques dealer—who thought that she might have ghosts in her house. It was likely that she did; ghosts often attach themselves to significant