When Ghosts Speak - Mary Ann Winkowski [34]
There are those who would criticize me for sending a remorseless murderer into the Light. My take on it is that this is my job. It’s what I do. Who am I to decide or judge? There’s no rulebook for sending earthbound spirits into the Light, and so I’ve had to make up my own rules as I’ve gone along. And one of my rules is that every spirit who has been earthbound should get a chance to leave.
For my own peace of mind, I have to believe that there is some power at the end of the Light deciding what becomes of spirits when they cross over. I have let murderers and criminals and liars and thieves into the same Light that I have made for sweet little grandmothers and angelic-looking children. It is impossible for me to believe that they are all going to the same place.
How and When I Make the White Light
Of course, I don’t simply go around making the white Light randomly. What happens is that I get a call from someone having specific problems—health-related issues, problems with the mechanics of their home, or tension in a relationship that results in endless quarreling—and I can tell, from listening to their message or talking to them directly, if there is a ghost in their home or business. If so, I must go to where the ghost is to speak to him or her and to make the Light. Most people want the opportunity to talk to their ghosts. They want to confirm that it has, in fact, been the ghost who’s been hiding the checkbook right around bill-paying time, or leaving the car keys in the most ridiculous places, or causing the furnace or the electrical systems or the car to malfunction almost constantly. Sometimes the person who calls knows the ghost. Most people don’t.
After clients have exhausted their list of questions, I ask them if they are ready to release the ghost. Most people are only too glad to clear their home and have their lives return to normal. If they say yes, I make the white Light, just as my grandmother taught me to do when I was young, and tell the ghosts that they need to leave. I watch the ghosts walk away from me into the Light. It’s as if I’m watching someone walk into a very bright tunnel. Some walk slowly, some quickly, some break into a run, a few turn to wave to me, and a few difficult cases have offered a less heartwarming “one-finger salute.” When I cannot see their figures anymore, I close up the Light. Sometimes it’s just that simple. Sometimes it’s far more complicated.
When I first began doing this, as a child, I didn’t have as sophisticated an understanding of what made spirits stay and what would convince them to leave as I do now. I’d simply make the Light, point to my grandmother, and tell the ghost, “My grandmother says you have to leave now.” In those days, ghosts were as likely to tilt their heads and say something along the lines of “Awww, isn’t she cute? She’s telling her grandma what I said.” These spirits were the ones who’d usually speak in the condescending baby-talk tone some adults seem to think children prefer to be addressed with. Others seemed puzzled. Obviously I could see them, but why should they take orders from a child? These ghosts might hesitate when I first told them to leave, but after a glance at my grandmother, they’d turn and march right into that Light. Honestly, I can’t remember any spirit ever refusing to go when I was a little girl!
When I was a teenager, I remember being annoyed if spirits gave me attitude. After all, I’d been doing this for years. And of course, anyone who has spent any time with teenagers will know what I mean when I say that I was always 100 percent convinced that I knew what was best for the spirit. As I matured and began to appreciate all the complex reasons spirits can have for remaining earthbound, I realized I had to learn how to manipulate stubborn ghosts into doing what I wanted them to do.
After years of practice in making the