When Ghosts Speak - Mary Ann Winkowski [93]
Environment
The effect an earthbound spirit can have on your environment will vary depending on how much energy that ghost possesses. Following are some of the most common disruptions that can be attributed to earthbound spirits.
Moving or Hiding Objects
I have seen ghosts who are able to move furniture, but it’s more common for them to move or hide small items such as keys, checkbooks, paperwork, or jewelry. This is a very effective way for an earthbound spirit to get a reaction from a living person. Think about how stressed you become when you’re late for an appointment and your car keys—which you are positive you left on the kitchen table—are missing. Or your anxiety when you’re certain you’ve put your checkbook and bank card in your purse, but find they’re not there when you try to use them in a store. Later you may discover them tucked in a drawer or under a pile of paperwork on your desk.
When ghosts are able to move larger objects, the effects can be quite dramatic. In one memorable example of a ghost determined to get his own way, I was called to a nursing home where the staff had completely sealed off one of the rooms—a spacious suite on one of the more private floors. The room was beautifully decorated with an antique bedroom set, including a four-poster bed, a bureau, a dressing table, and nightstands. The nurse who was taking me around explained that the furniture had belonged to a very wealthy former patient who had actually commandeered several rooms as a private “suite” while he was a resident in the home. Before his death he had given his children very specific instructions as to which items of furniture each was to have. When their dad died, the kids, not wanting the outdated pieces, donated them to the nursing home. That was when the trouble started: No matter where the staff moved a piece of furniture, the next morning it was right back in the room where it had started. They had tried moving just one piece of the set at a time; they had tried moving each piece into a different room simultaneously. No matter what they did, by morning the furniture was all back in the room where it had started.
I found the ghost of the older man hanging around in the common room on the main floor. He was enraged at his children and, by this point, at the staff for continuing to try to “give away” his bedroom set. Despite my best efforts, I could not convince him to cross over. The staff have since found that simply keeping the pieces of the bedroom set together in one room seems to pacify him. I imagine that if they ever really need that room, I’ll be hearing from them again. I hope this time the ghost will be ready to leave.
Temperature Changes
Fleeting temperature changes in certain rooms may be a sign of an earthbound spirit’s arrival or departure. Now, people do tell me that they’re sure they have a ghost because a particular room is “just cold/hot all the time.” In these cases, it’s more likely that the room has a northern exposure and lack of sunlight, or is simply drafty or overly sunny. But feeling a sudden draft move through the middle of a room, or sensing a warm spot where there isn’t a pool of sunshine, may indicate that you are not the only being in the room.
Electrical or Mechanical Malfunctions
These problems show up equally in homes and businesses. The energy from an earthbound spirit can be disruptive to any electrical device, including televisions, computers, heating or air-conditioning systems, and elevators. In your home, you may find that your stove turns on and off, lights flicker, lightbulbs burn out or explode, your television has lots of static, your computer crashes, and small appliances break or don’t work correctly. You may have troubles with your furnace and hot-water tank, or with air-conditioning units or ceiling fans. Toilets may flush themselves, and doors may swing open or slam shut.
The same types of problems are common in the workplace. I have done work at a number of theaters in the Cleveland area and have discovered that the