A Book About Ghosts

Book Review:

Ghosts Among Us:  Uncovering the Truth About the Other Side

by James Van Praagh

I believe in Spirits and Ghosts.  I used to think that a Spirit was the essence of a person who passed away and a Ghost—while also being the essence of a dead person—was something scary, as in here to haunt us!  I watch ghost-hunting shows.  Some of them are better than others:  I prefer Ghost Hunters over Paranormal State.

I read Van Praagh’s Talking to Heaven a couple of years ago and I liked it, and I also learned from it, so when I saw this book, I requested it from my library.

Ghosts Among Us delves more deeply into the realm of spirit than Talking to Heaven did.  Below are excerpts from the book that I found interesting, informative, and surprising.  Author’s text is in italics.

Church:  Vortex of Spiritual Energy

Generally speaking, a church is a vortex of spiritual energy, no matter the faith or denomination.  People come together to worship, contemplate, and pray in the name of God.  These actions energize the spirit world, and ghosts show up to influence us with their love and guidance.  It is no wonder that a church is a place in which people find a safe haven.

What Happens After We Die

In my field of work, I am constantly asked the same questions over and over.  What is it like to die?  Is there really an afterlife, and if so, where do we go?  Is there any pain?... Even though each person’s death experience is an individual one, based on my communication with spirits, I can tell you that there are some incredible similarities in making the transition.

No matter what factors are present at death—homicide, suicide, explosion, accident, old age—there is one constant that remains.  There is no pain when you die.

No one ever dies alone.  No matter what, there are always friends, family members, and others there to greet you.  Often there are spirits from many lifetimes ago to meet you as well.  Your soul recognizes all whom you have known.  Van Praagh has also seen human spirits with animal spirits.  He mentioned seeing spirits with their pets.

What are Ghosts?

Ghosts are forms of energy, just as humans are forms of energy.  They appear quite like their physical bodies.  When I see ghosts, I rarely see fragments of a person… I always see full human forms, complete with hair, facial features, and clothing.  Most of the time, ghosts appear youthful, healthy, and in the prime of life.

However, in some instances, ghosts can appear exactly the way they were at the time of death.  When ghosts materialize in this condition, death may have been sudden and unexpected, and they may not be aware that they have passed from the physical world.

Temperatures do change when ghosts are around.  Mostly the air feels colder.  Usually, I feel a cool breeze across the back of my neck… Also, ghosts are extremely sensitive, so they can pick up on your thoughts and feelings with crystal-clear clarity, as if they had some kind of special radar.  Just thinking of a loved one who has passed over can attract that ghost to you.

Ghosts In the Light vs. Earthbound Ghosts

Ghosts are scary to me and, be honest, they’re probably scary to you too.  Yeah?  Van Praagh’s description/explanation of a ghost partially dispelled that fear for me, but I couldn’t help but wonder why it is that the EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) that come through from ghosts on the paranormal investigation shows are often menacing, sad, afraid, and angry.  Van Praagh explains that   Ghosts are either “in the light” or “earthbound.”  Most of the ghosts with whom I communicate are in the light.  Most scary ghost stories are about earthbound ghosts…. Ghosts are not ghouls who roam graveyards at midnight looking to scare people out of their wits.  This perception couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Granted, ghosts want to communicate with us, but mostly they want to help us, not scare us.  That being said, earthbound ghosts can scare us. 

THERE IT IS—SOME OF THEM CAN SCARE US! 

Van Praagh adds that Since they have not yet entered the light, they are caught between the earth’s dimension and the spiritual realm.  Earthbound ghosts are usually fearful, angry, or lonely, and they communicate with these kinds of emotions. 

These are probably the ghosts that people like Jay and Grant of Ghost Hunters are encountering—Earthbound Ghosts.  And then there’s Demons, a completely different thing. I don’t even want to go there.  The lead investigator on Paranormal State meets a lot of demons, as do the folks on The Haunted.   

So, as I said, I always thought of “ghosts” as something scary, but when I thought of someone I knew and cared about who’d passed away, I thought of them as “spirits.” This book provided me with an explanation for why some ghosts, or spirits, frighten us.

Earthbound Ghosts
Van Praagh says that there are also earthbound ghosts who are …tied so strongly to earth through beliefs and habits, it can take a while to move into the heavenly realms.  Through prayer and other means, the living can help those between dimensions to move on.  This speaks to a custom that I grew up with.  I was raised Catholic, and taught that we should pray for the souls of the departed.  Many Catholics have masses said for the souls of those that have died.  Of course, the reason Catholics do this, I guess, is to help that soul leave the state of purgatory and move on to heaven.  Well, I haven’t been a practicing Catholic in many years, but I still continue many of the practices I was taught as a child, and I find it interesting that Van Praagh also says that prayer will help a spirit move on.  He didn’t say if the spirits said this to him or if he believes this because he, like me, was also raised Catholic.

Van Praagh says that there are many reasons why ghosts remain tied to earth:

A person has some sort of unfinished business with someone on earth.

Death was sudden and unexpected, such as a car accident or murder, and the deceased is unaware of his or her condition.

A person may want to make sure that his or her final wishes are being followed.

A person with certain religious beliefs may be afraid of what lies ahead, especially if those beliefs tie into hell and damnation.

Because earthbound spirits reside in a very vivid mental and emotional state, their feelings and thoughts are extremely powerful.

It is quite amazing how incredibly tied we are to our mental and emotional states.  Guilt, anger, and resentment keep souls in self-imposed prisons even after they die.  To move on, we must learn to forgive others as well as ourselves.

Eventually, earthbound ghosts live out all oftheir earthly desires and have a sense that they want to experience something more.  When they do, they are ready to move into the higher mental and spiritual dimensions.

The Lower Astral Plane

The very first dimension beyond the physical realm that a ghost encounters is the lower astral dimension, which vibrates very close to the earth’s realm and is located between the earth and the higher spheres.  Many ghosts have communicated that this level is gray and dim and reminds them of the foggy mists of San Francisco Bay.  Ghosts usually do not linger in this lower astral level very long.  Only the unresolved remain in this dark world.

On the lower astral level, thoughts are heard and seen very clearly.  Ghosts cannot hide their thoughts as humans can…  When ghosts decide to stay in this lower astral dimension, they become a collective creation of aspects of humans that are obsessively tied to unresolved emotions, usually negative in nature, such as anger, depression, desperation, loneliness, guilt, addiction, cruelty, and hatred…  Because thoughts remain with us on our journey, our points of view also stay with us.  Beliefs, likes, dislikes, and judgments remain exactly the way they were.  There are no instant, all-knowing miracles or revelations when we die…  Thoughts control existence, and so whatever one believes is what one gets.

The lower astral level contains many fragmented, nonhuman, unevolved astral bodies and thought forms created by fear.  All thoughts are alive here.  Judgments, prejudice, spiritual ignorance, and misunderstandings make up these fragmented thought forms.  These thoughts linger in this realm as pockets of dark energy.  Many Christians refer to the lower astral level as hell.  It is not fire and brimstone, as we are told, but remnants of negative thoughts.

When Van Praagh finds himself in the company of a spirit with negative energy, he says he will picture a wall of protection to keep this lower astral entity’s negative energy away from me.  (This is a quick technique for instant protection against harmful and depressing energy.)

Not only is the lower astral realm made up of our collective negative thoughts and emotions, but we continually feed it through our negativity, including negative forms of entertainment.  Violent movies, television shows, and music that exaggerate people’s fears and cruel behavior may seem exciting, but they only exacerbate the baser thoughts of society…  All is energy, and negative energy like fear, anger, and hate becomes imbedded in the lower astral level.  Like a vicious cycle, these thought forms come back to haunt us by causing more fear and hatred.

Just as there is a natural progression in life on earth, thre is also a natural progression in the afterlife.  As a ghost expands its awareness and develops its spiritual muscle, so to speak, it passes from one spiritual plane of existence to another.  As it does, it becomes less attracted and less connected to earthly trappings.

Many spirits pass into the light of the higher astral dimensions and arrive in a place I refer to as Summerland.  This dimension is almost as real as earth.  It is a world of amazing buildings and homes, the colors of which are incomprehensible by earthly minds…  In addition to homes, the higher dimensions include great buildings like music halls, museums, and libraries.  Our thoughts are concrete on this level, so what we have been planning and thinking about actually materializes.  All our dreams and desires can come true in the higher astral level…  Spirits in the higher dimensions can visit others in the lower dimensions, but those in the lower dimensions cannot move to the higher dimensions until their souls are ready.  Highly evolved spirits are very much aware of what happens on the physical levels and often visit family and friends on earth to aid and protect them.

The following is a list of different types of spiritual guides:

Helper Guides

Influence and assist us by bringing out the innate talents imbedded within our soul’s makeup…  People call forth their helper guides when they are working on a project or just need help in their job…  Greek mythology—a helper guide is called a “muse”—a guide who assists us in reaching our dreams.

Relationship Guides

…work with our unique energy vibration to open our hearts to love so that we can share our lives with another…  We have many soul mates, not just one, and each soul mate is a part of our soul group…  Every person in our lives is there for a reason… a potential teacher, even though we may not think so at the time, especially if those lessons are unpleasant and uncomfortable.

Family Guides

…”I didn’t choose my family.”  Oh, but yes, we do…  We choose our family members before we enter the earth existence.  In fact, our families have been with through many lifetimes.  It is interesting to know that souls travel collectively in groups.  They often wait until they are all together on the other side so that when they decide to travel back to earth, they will arrive aroundthe same time.  Our families are a part of our soul group, and the experiences we share with our family members are probably the most difficult to understand and the most important to master.

I find that there is a lot of unfinished business among families because so much of the work that I do is communication with family members.  The love bond between one member of a family and another can become even stronger after death.  After they pass, many souls reach a realization that they could have been more cooperative, more understanding, or more helpful to their family.  They sense that they could have been a better parent, husband, or child.  It is very common for family members to decide to make up for their earthly mistakes by helping their families from the other side, becoming their spiritual guide.

Little things are often signs from the other side.  Van Praagh says these are things that appear to be coincidences, they appear almost insignificant, but they’re not.

About Angels

Angels are spiritual messengers and instruments of divine guidance, inspiration, and protection.  Some of these divine beings have very specific work and are part of various kingdoms or specific realms, such as the Counselor realm, made up of Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones.  The heavenly governors make up the second realm of Dominions, Virtues, and Powers, and the third realm consists of Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

Van Praagh says he doesn’t see Angels frequently, but he calls on the angelic kingdoms for help, and the Angels have never let him down.  They’ve also taught him valuable lessons in humility and faith.

When Van Praagh was very nervous about appearing on the Howard Stern Show, he prepared himself prior to his appearance by meditating and asking his guides for divine protection.  Archangel Michael appeared to him—a beautiful being with blond hair and blue yes… He wore a white tunic and purple robe with a golden sword strapped to his chest—and with one quick, downward stroke of his sword, I heard the words, You are protected.  Van Praagh’s fears dissipated.  He had a good show with Howard and enjoyed himself.

Energy

In speaking of energy, Van Praagh says that… the particles of matter that make up chairs, houses, trees, flowers, and your own physical body all move at a very slow rate of speed because they vibrate in a three-dimensional world.  Ghosts vibrate at a higher rate because they are in a fourth dimension. 

Van Praagh discusses kinetic, or spirit, energy.

The energy of thought is called telepathy.  How often have you thought about someone and five minutes later the person called you?  You are using telepathic energy to connect with that person… Thought energy is the fastest way to contact anyone living or dead.

… the body’s energy-generating system is known as the seven main chakras or psychic centers.  Each chakra spins like a swirling ball of colored light and corresponds to various parts of ourselves.

1.     At the base of the spine is the first chakra, the root chakra… it is red… This chakra has to do with our survival instinct and basic physical needs.  When we concentrate on the root chakra, we can pull the enrgy of the earth up through this center to give ourselves strength and vitality.

2.     … sacral chakra, located two inches below the belly button around our pelvis.  This area is our intuitive center… associated with our feelings and raw emotions, it is a source of clairsentience… associated with the color orange… this center corresponds to our sexual organs, spleen, and bladder and can be an emotional storage area for hurts.

3.     The third chakra is about two inches above the navel in our solar plexus.  This is where emotions are more refined.  This chaka has to do with will and a sense of self.  On the physical level, this chakra is associated with our stomach and digestion.  It is also the emotional storeage area for anger and repression.  This yellow-colored chakra connects to the silver cord that tethers us to our bodies… When we die, thiscord snaps, our physical bodies die, and our spiritual bodies are free to move on.

4.     Higher energy starts at the heart chakra.  This center vibrates to the color green.  Located in the center of the chest, it is associated with the heart, the thymus, and blood circulation.  This is the center of love, compassion, trust, giving, receiving, and nurturing.  When the heart chakra is blocked, a person may feel a lack of love for himself and others.

5.     The throat chakra vibrates in the color blue and is located in the neck area.  Through this chakra, along with the solar plexus and spleen chakras, medium can hear the voices of ghosts, and ghosts can speak through channels with their actual voices.  Physicially, this is the center of our creative expression, our voice, throat, mouth, thyroid, and hypothalamus.  Emotional problems that stick to this area usually pertain to feeling powerless in expressing our true selves.

6.     The third-eye chakra is located in the center of the forehead and bibrates to the color idigo or dark blue.  Focusing on the third eye chakra in meditation helps to develop spiritual awareness.  This center, which is used to see auras and spirits, physically corresponds with our eyes and pineal and pituitary glands located in the brain.  The “third eye” is the gateway to the spiritual realms.

7.     The seventh, or crown chakra, vibrates at the top of and above our heads.  This is the seat of spiritual consciousness, enlightenment, myusticism, and protection.  Concentrate on the color purple when meditating on this chakra.  Physically, it corresponds to our spinal column, central nervous system, and cerebral cortex.  When working with spirits, it is a good idea to bring the light through this crown chakra down into our bodies to the root chakra in order to protect ourselves from unwanted energies.

Van Praagh states that just as there are energy healers, there are energy suckers.  The energy suckers can be ghosts and the living.  In the case of the living, they’re people who are constantly depressed, angry about the world, jealous, always in a bad mood, pessimistic, doubtful, power-hungry, mistrustful, or manipulating.  He addsthat most of them are not even aware that their energy extends beyondthem and hurts others along their path.  They can leave you exhausted, depressed, and debilitated.  The bad attitudes of these people actually slow down their vibratory rates and attract unevolved ghostly energies…  Ghosts can draw energy from electrical items… and phones by pulling energy from the electromagnetic field surrounding these objects.  Unfurtunately, appliances don’t hold enough charge…  The most energy possible comes from the living.  The human body has the exact type of electrical circuitry that is familiar to a ghost, and so it’s easy for a ghost to plug into our energy and take it.  They do so through the holes and leaks that appear in an individual’s chakra system when it has been weakened and depleted by negative thoughts, feelings, and behavior…  Any form of chronicpoor health can be a sign of ghostly attachment.

Some of the telltale signs that low-level ghosts are hanging around include:

*Hearing voices

*Sudden cravings for alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs, especially after surgery or a traumatic event

*Sudden weight gain, especially after surgery or a traumatic event

*Fears and phobias

*Sudden changes in behavior, such as increased anger, depression, or thoughts of suicide

*Serious illness of unknown cause

*Loss of energy

*Memory and concentration problems

*Unexplained physical problems—such as pain from an undetermined cause

*Migraine headaches

*Night terrors and nightmares

*Panic or anxiety attacks

*Multiple personalities

Most of us are safe from attachments by negative ghosts...  Who is vulnerable to attachments?  First of all, those who don’t take good care of their health.  Second, those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol on a daily basis.  Finally, those who have a mind-set of control over others and anger toward others, like gangbangers.  These people are predisposed to negative influences.

Your aura is your natural defense against such intrusions.  By keeping your aura strong, you ensure that lower-frequency spirits cannot attach to you.  I scan my body on a daily basis to make sure my own energy is strong…  With my mind, I make my intention:  I am in the perfect state of health and filled with love.  This is the easiest way to ensure that there are no negative hangers-on in my space…  Become a lot more cautious with your thoughts, both the ones you send out to others and the ones you verbalize.  Be more concerned about whom you befriend and where you hang out, where you work, the type of work you do, and even where you live.

Remember, there are a lot of energies, both living and dead, of which you need to be aware because not all of them are working in your best interest.  The next time you have a weird and unsettling feeling about a person or place, pay attention, surround yourself with light, and walk quickly away from that person or place. 

Not all ghosts are negative.  Some ghosts are more than willing to be helpful influences in your lives.  The way to attract these spirits is with your own good energy.

The spirit world will often give what I call “validation signs” that we are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

Van Praagh states that the easiest way to hear from a loved one is in our dreams.  In our dreams, …we are unfettered and free t obe open to the other dimensions…  Many times dreams are symbolic and we have to examine the dream meaning as thoroughly as we can to ascertain its significance.

Van Praagh has taught classes worldwide and particularly likes doing so on cruises.  He met Ron Oyer who’s in the travel business and together they came up with the “Voyage of Enlightenment.”  Mr. Oyer …has become the go-to guy for these types of adventures.

Another way spirits make contact with us is through photography. I have seen many photographs showing white orbs or what look like wisps of smoke around figures in a photo…  I believe that somehow ghosts have mpressed a portion of their energy on the electromagnetic energy of the photograph.  Van Praagh has a section of his website for “phantom” photographs.

…a ghost can make an object appear or disappear.  A ghost is also able to move an object from one part of a room to another, or to another room entirely.  It takes a lot of energy to do this, but it is real, and it does happen.

Ghosts have an impact on us more often with their thoughts and actions hat we could ever imagine.  Even the workd inspiration actually means “in spirit…” often what we label as coincidence is really the influence of the spirit world.

…a ghost in the light will communicate in a nonthreatening way.  An earthbound ghost, however, is more likely to be distressed or confused and will communicate by causing disturbances.  It is the earthbound ghost that haunts the living and is apt to cause them harm.